


What Are The Chances

by FanficNinja



Series: W.A.T.O. Universe [6]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Character Death, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Humor, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2018-10-08 08:22:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 32,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10382505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficNinja/pseuds/FanficNinja
Summary: The reds and blues (aside from some) make it to Chorus only to discover things aren't exactly what they seem. Everyones at ends with Tucker, Mackenzies acting off and the newcomers are trying their hardest to fit into a war even though they were terrible at a fake one to begin with. However, they must all band together to defeat Hargrove once more, with a combined team of Jay, Neon, Felix and Agent Delaware by his side. Not to mention how the purge is coming......and there is no where they can run.





	1. Prologue; The Beginning

"H-hey guys..."

"DOC!?"

After mere seconds, Doc felt himself get pulled into a tight embrace. "D-Doc..." He could feel Donut shudder. "I'm so... SORRY! We... I... thought you were dead!" He sniffled. "I'm so glad to see you're alive!" He smiled weakly, tears strolling down his cheeks. Everyone else though, refused to move. Doc was dead. He'd been dead for a very long time. This didn't make any sense."I m-missed you so much!" Tucker felt guilt whilst Lopez felt a hint of jealousy. "Where have you been?"

"Unconcious for two years i guess" Doc sighed, hugging Donut back.

Tucker _hoped_ the others wouldn't remember. They would hate him if they did, but it became quite clear that they knew when Grif shot a cold glare at him. "Dude... didn't you say he was dead?" He furrowed his brows at the aqua soldier. The whole room turned to face Tucker, making him shake a little at the attention. "You did! I remember!" Grif pointed at him. "You said he was fucking dead!" The orange soldier stated. Everyone glared at him, all except for Wash. "What the fuck!?"

"D-dudes... listen..." Tucker tried to think of words to defend himself.

"Why the fuck would you lie Tucker!?"

Tucker jumped. That had been... _Donut_. It caught him by surprise. He never had heard Donut swear before. It was oddly _threatening_. Tucker took a deep breath before answering. "We needed to get out of there quickly, remember? If we stopped we would've-"

"We spared time for you when Church shattered inside your head. You nearly died but we stayed and healed you. What was different with Doc? If anything his injury was less of a problem for the mission then yours was!" Simmons added. Tucker flinched. "Was it because it _wasn't_ you?" Simmons accused.

"Wait..." Church raised a hand. "I nearly killed Tucker!?"

"Whys everyone so worried? Was Doc dead?" Caboose tilted his head to the side. "If so, whats so bad then? All dead people come back after all!" He pointed out. Tucker and Church shared a solemn look.

"Caboose, hun, lets get out of here" Mackenzie interrupted, pulling her cousin by the hand out of the room. "I'm sure theres some cake in the cafeteria" She told. Caboose perked up at that; completely oblivious to the serious nature of the situation. "If not, then i'll make ya some pancakes" She added. Caboose licked his lips excitedly.

When she left, everyone started throwing insults at Tucker. His eyes grew watery and he couldn't breathe. They weren't supposed to know! If anything, they should've been thanking him. He just wanted to save them, thats all. Soon enough, he couldn't take it anymore. He ran as fast as he could out of there. "Tucker! Wait!" Wash called after him, starting to sprint after the aqua soldier. "Come back!"

Doc clenched his fists. He was finally back... and he was already starting things. He took a deep breath. "I _am_ a failure" He whispered.

\---

"Tucker, come back!" Wash ran as fast as he could after his boyfriend. Soon enough, they came to the rooms Kimball had set up for them. Tucker sprinted into his own and shut the door. Wash stopped infront of it. He sighed. "Tucker... please come out. They didn't mean it. They're just angry, thats all" He assured. "Just, tell them why you did it and being who they are, i'm sure they'll underst-"

"What more is there to say, Wash!?" Tucker snapped. "I wanted to help dude. They just think i was being selfish!" He told, frustrated. Wash couldn't disagree there. "Just leave dude. I'll be fine" He stated. Wash wanted to say more, but he knew nothing would fix this. He frowned and walked away from the door.

"You better be fine Tucker..." He muttered solemnly.

\---

"Hey Mackenzie..." Caboose began, eating as he talked. He was having chocolate cupcakes. "Why was everyone so sad about Doc? Why did they think he was dead?" He asked. Mackenzie flinched. "If he was, i'm confused. I thought people came back after they died. Thats how it worked with Church!" He informed. Mackenzie hesitantly nodded. "Speaking of death, how come i heard Grif and Simmons talking about what they'd do together before they died? Are they planning to have an accident?" He tilted his head to the side, clearly confused.

Mackenzie took a bite of her cupcake before taking a deep breath. "Cabby, i think we need to have a talk"

Caboose blinked. "About what? Is it the one with the bees and the birds?" He questioned. "I don't like bees" He said honestly. "One bit me"

Mackenzie chuckled lightly. "No, not _that_ talk hun..." She clenched her fists. "This one is one i should've told ya a long time ago. Since ya'll came to earth" She said softly. Caboose gave her a confused glance. "Hun, us moon people are a bit different from earth. We're a bit different then _them"_ She took another bite of her cupcake, desperately wanting something to distract her from the conversation she hoped she'd never have with him. "We live to about, well, _forever_ Cabby... unless something happens that kills us" She laughed slightly. "And on the moon that was common but... we ain't on the moon no more" She said sadly. "And everyone here came from earth. They all are gonna die when they're ninety or eighty!" She informed, almost tearing up as she laid a hand on her younger cousins shoulder. "You're gonna outlive 'em Cabby"

"W-what?" Caboose asked, his eyes wattery.

\---

"Holy shit" Church stared at Simmons in utter disbelief. "No way... no fucking way! I couldn't have. Theres no way! I checked every possibility, why didn't it-" He paused, rubbing his forehead as a headache formed. "I nearly killed Tucker" He choked out. Simmons nodded. "How... how did i..?"

"You shattered in his head. Luckily, you didn't do much damage but he gets headaches sometimes" Simmons explained. "You shouldn't worry about it though..."

"No, Simmons" Church retorted. "I should!" He glared. "How the fuck have i not known this!?"

"We didn't think you needed to know" Simmons told.

"Well, Simmons, i did need to know. I would've _wanted_ to know" He corrected. "This is so... bullshit. Just fucking-after all i've done for you guys too" He said angrily. Simmons raised an eyebrow. "If you wanna bring me back again, tell me everything. For gods sake, everything!" He yelled. "Well, what do i expect from you guys anyway? You didn't even listen to the private fucking messages i left for you all..."

"What private messages?" Simmons repeated.

"Wait..." Church looked at Simmons, confused. "You _didn't_ get them?"

\---

"Diancie does not believe we have to share" The red soldier whined, basically collapsing onto her bed. "All of the 'reds' and 'blues' got seperate rooms" She pointed out. "Diancie feels like shes being mistreated"

Honey-Lemon (being the opposite of Diancies poor attitude) started bouncing around the room happily. "Its not so bad. We can all have sleepovers! They will be so wonderfully wonderful, i could just screa-"

Mike covered her mouth instinctively. "No! Do not hurt my ears. Please!" He pleaded. "Also, don't let yourself be known. You're meant to be a secret. No-one should know you're here, okay?" Honey-Lemon shrugged before nodding excitedly. "This isn't going to be all fun and games guys" He reminded, now looking over at the others. "We're even getting training by that _Carolina_ tomorrow. We need to be serious" He ordered.

Cross groaned. "Being serious..."

"...just sucks Mike" Leo concluded.

Mike facepalmed. "Guys, think about it, this could be the adventure we've always craved!" He smiled brightly. He recieved glares from Cross, Leo and Diancie. "Apparently this Hargrove guy is really bad! If we fail, we'll die. You guys are all my friends so i don't want that, okay?" They all sighed before nodding. "Besides, its not like training is going to be too hard. We're just starting out after all"

\---

"Carolina..." Kimball started, cautious. "Are you sure that this isn't a little too far for basic training?" Kimball asked, staring out over the large sea of soldiers, shotguns and tanks.

Carolina rolled her eyes. "They _need_ to get better"

"And..?" Kimball gave her a nervous look.

"This will help them"

"If you say so" She chuckled lightly. "But if one of them dies, you're doing the paperwork" She informed, walking away from the turquoise armored woman.

Carolina smiled. "I love you Kimball" 

"I love you too Carolina" She replied.

\---

"I love you Kimball"

"I love you too, Carolina"

York hadn't meant to hear that. He had just come to see how the training was going. He didn't mean to cry nonstop and run to his room. He hadn't meant for any of this to happen...

...And now he was desperately wishing it hadn't.

 


	2. Chapter One; Training Troubles

"I can't believe he's _alive..."_ Donut said softly. "Its been two years. Do you think he missed me?" The pink soldier asked, looking up at Lopez. The spanish robot chose not to reply. "I mean, i'm not sad or anything! This is wonderful! We have two birthdays to catch up on too! I am so thinking a light magenta for the streamers" He began, excited. "Hold on, Cabooses birthday is just around the corner too... i haven't planned anything for that either! This is going to be _so_ great Lopez!"

[Sounds nice] Lopez replied. [Do you need any help with them?]

"Oh, no need Lopez!" Donut shrugged it off. "I'm sure Doc wouldn't mind. We have so much catching up to do too!" He told happily.

Lopez rolled his eyes. [Right]

An awkward silence passed between them before Donut spoke up; "Well, um, the newcomers are going to be practicing today. Do you want to come and watch? Some of us need to be supportive!" He proclaimed. Lopez shook his head. "Oh..." Donut sounded disappointed. "Well, thats okay. I'll go ask Doc. He's all about some of that positive reinforcement!" He reminded, before skipping off.

Lopez glared as the soldier left his vision. He scowled. [Idiot] He murmured. He didn't know why he was so mad, but he was. He felt jealousy... but that couldn't be right. For that, he would need to care to start off with, and he didn't. There was no way. Oh, and for _someone_ like _Donut?_ Yeah right.

So why did he feel the strong urge to punch Doc in the face for not even doing anything?

\---

Mike, Cross, Leo, Diancie and Mackenzie looked on, astonished, at the display before them. Soldiers gathered with their guns aimed and a tank strolled around just behind them, awaiting something to knock down. "Alright" Carolina began, her posture straight as she examined their stance. Mike had his eyes wide and his jaw open. Cross and Leo were shaking a little, both slowly trying to be discreet as they tried to get closer to one another. Diancie was trying to look tough but her face was going bright red with stress. Mackenzie was the calmest. She was standing straight with her hands on her hips, admiring the intense display with not fear, but wonderment. "Lets do this" She smirked.

"Are you sure?" Mike asked nervously. Carolina raised an eyebrow at him. "Theres a..." He tried to find his words.

"A hundred soldiers? A tank? Elite alien weapons?" She questioned. Mike nodded. "Listen, this is how its going to be out there, okay? Not some playground. Infact, if anything, this is much easier then whats in store for you guys" She informed. Cross and Leo both gulped. "Now, all you have to do is simple. Get passed these guards and obtain the case" She explained. "Then bring it back to me" Carolina added. "I'll put you in teams. Mackenzie you go with Mike and Cross, Leo. Diancie... i'll call in someone to-"

"No need hun" Mackenzie smiled brightly. "I'm sure i can handle it by myself. She can be with Mike"

Carolina sighed. "If you have so much confidence in yourself, then you go first" She urged. Mackenzie shrugged before starting to run in. Carolina quietly whispered into her shoulder. "Church, i need you to record this. We need to know what shes capable of" She ordered. "Just in case"

" _No problem sis"_ Church replied, just as quiet so no-one would know.

Suddenly, Mackenzie began running into the simulation, her hand just over her gun. She ran straight for the tank. Jumping after getting in a close enough range to land on top of it. Once she did, she grabbed the head of the missle launcher on top of it and snapped it. Carolina blinked in surprise. She then hit the guy in the tank with the piece she ripped off, before taking his place inside the tank. She then began shooting down soldiers with the large vehicle. Before long, they were all down. She got out of the vehicle and walked over to the case, grabbing it and strutting back. She gave the case to Carolina and winked. "There ya go hun"

"That was... good" Carolina complimented. Mackenzie grinned before going back to her friends who all high-fived her on sight. "Too good" Carolina added, suspicious. "Next up!" She called.

Mike stepped up along with Diancie, Cross and Leo. "Well..." He started, cautious. "If Mackenzie can do it alone, so can we, together!" He said confidently.

\---

Mike limped out of the nurses office. "Ow. Ow. Ow" He repeated over and over. Cross and Leo followed close behind, secretly proud of being the ones without any major injuries whatsoever. Diancie came out last with a bandage wrapped around her head. "That was the worst training session ever" Mike announced.

"Yes. Diancie is even now regretting her decision to come" Diancie agreed. Cross and Leo stayed silent, but they could all tell deep inside they were loathing this experience just as much as they were. Then, they saw Carolina standing with Donut, Doc and Mackenzie. Church floating just above Carolinas shoulder in a much tinier form.

"Oh thank god hun!" Mackenzie took a breath of relief. "You're alright! I thought after the tank rolled you over you were goners... you okay?"

Cross sighed. "Yeah..."

"...sort of" Leo chipped in.

"What are _you_  doing here?" Mike asked, looking over at Carolina. "Please tell me theres no more training..."

"No silly!" Donut laughed. "Not until tomorrow" He reminded. They all groaned at that. "You see, i missed training unfortunately but then i found out you guys still haven't had a tour. Or... even a _recap_ about what happened here at Chorus two years ago!" He informed. "I thought you guys might like to know, so i convinced Carolina and Church to do one with you"

"Okay" Mike agreed. "Just... no tanks" He requested.

Donut nodded happily. "Of course!"

\---

Wash sat at the cafeteria table with Grif, Simmons, Caboose and Lopez. He stared down at his food, picking at it with his fork. The group was discussing things but Wash _only_ listened. He wasn't in the mood to interject. That was, until, Grif started talking about Tucker. "I can't believe Tucker would lie to us about that kind of shit!" The orange soldier said, annoyed. "Now we've been thinking all this time that Docs dead"

"Yeah" Caboose nodded. He wasn't looking up at them either. "But then i would get used to it for when _it_ happens..." He muttered.

Simmons, ignoring Cabooses odd behaviour, spoke up aswell. "It _was_ really rude, and Donut took forever to get over it. Did he even care?" The maroon soldier asked.

Wash's grip tightened on his fork. He looked up at them again, a glare plastered on his face. "Of course he cares! He did it so you wouldn't all hang around and die. Not for him, for all of _you._ So just leave him alone!" Wash demanded, clearly angry. "Besides, **Grif...** not like _you_ cared. _You_ were too busy calling dibs on his rations!" He accused.

Grif stood up, immediately making himself more intimidating. "Are you saying i wouldn't fucking care if one of my friends died?" He furrowed his brows at Wash.

"Not if it meant you were getting extra food" Wash pointed out.

Grif slammed down on the table with his fists and began stomping away. He was mumbling insult after insult about the grey and yellow soldier as he left. "Um... i'll go calm him down" Simmons said, getting up and following Grif; remembering to pick up the orange soldiers food tray to give to him too.

This just left Wash, Lopez and Caboose at the table. Wash sighed. "Caboose, I never thought i'd say this but please... say something... _anything!_ To cheer me up" He pleaded.

"But then i'll have too many good memories of you, and later, that'll make me even more sad" He replied, sniffling.

 _"Later?"_ Wash questioned. "What are you talking about?"

"Um..." Caboose felt tears go down his cheeks. He got up shakily before running away. "Mackenzie! Can we ple-please have some m-more pancakes!?" He shouted, stuttering.

Wash blinked in confusion. "What was that about?" He turned to face Lopez.

[Doc is idiotic, probably] Was all the spanish robot said, before leaving the table like the people before him.

Wash, now alone, got up and threw the rest of his meal in the bin. He began making his way to Tuckers room. Before he got there though, he felt a warm hand rest on his shoulder. "Whos there?" He asked, turning around to see a face he never thought he'd see again. "N-no way!" He denied it, backing up. "You... you're meant to be..." He tried to take deep breaths. "Aren't you dead? This isn't real. I'm hallucinating again!" He said, trying desperately to convince himself this was all fake.

"Its really me Wash" She assured. "Its really me"

Wash couldn't believe this. "Connie..?"


	3. Chapter Two; Just To Recap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment! :)
> 
> -FanficNinja

"And here we come to our final destination. The alien temple!" Donut announced. Mike, Leo, Cross, and Diancie admired it with amazement. However, to Carolinas suspicion, Mackenzie seemed rather content; as if she had been there before. Church noticed this too and him and Carolina shared a look of concern. "This is where we finished off Felix once and for all..." After he finished that sentence, Donut gave a light chuckle. "Well, that was until he came _back_ just recently" He stayed silent after that, as the newcomers took it all in.

"This is _so_ cool" Mike said honestly. "In all seriousness though, what were Felix and Locus even trying to accomplish?" He questioned.

"Oh, they wanted to start up this horrible thing called The Purge!" Donut informed. The newcomers all turned their attention to Mackenzie. Her eyes were widening with shock. "It was going to kill all of the citizens of Chorus. Luckily, me and the guys stopped it just in time" He gave a thumbs up. Mike was about to say something when Donut continued. "And this is Santa!" He introduced. Then, an alien-like hologram appeared infront of them. "He was an A.I. constructed by the aliens that used to live here and chose Caboose to be the true warrior"

 _"Santa?"_ Mackenzie raised an eye-brow. " _Constructed by aliens? But that's._..oh right!" She stared down at the floor, avoiding eye-contact. " _How did i not..? The Purge. This is that Chorus... there are so many across the galaxies i just thought... but if thats the case..."_ She evolved into nothing but rambles, her face getting more and more worried. " _Santas name must've been changed... the true warrior? Cabby. I used his personality... why would Hargro-"_ She stopped as everyone looked at her, confused.

"Huh..." Carolina glared. "Anything you want to tell us Mackenzie?"

"W-what hun?" Mackenzie stuttered. "No. Of course not. I'm fine"

Carolina started taking steps towards her, much to Churchs dismay. "Are you sure?" She asked again. Mackenzie stayed silent and furrowed her brows at the red-head. "Because me and Church have-"

"MACKENZIE!" Cabooses loud booming voice interrupted Carolinas to-be speech as he ran over and hugged Mackenzie to the ground. "Can we please talk? And have cookies! Maybe some pancakes too?" He asked brightly. Mackenzie nodded; overly happy to escape the attempted confrontation. Mackenzie and Caboose got off the floor and began walking away. Carolina eyed Mackenzie with anger. Soon, everyone was standing in silence.

"So, the purge was going to kill everyone you say?" Mike spoke up. Donut nodded, starting to continue his speech. As he did so, Mike discreetly whispered to Diancie, Cross and Leo. " _Hey guys, do you think thats the **same** Purge Mackenzie said **she** invented a while back_?" They shrugged in response. " _Huh. I think after this tour is over we need to have a little **talk** with her_ " They all agreed with him there.

After all, something was definitely up.

\---

"Agent Nebraska and Neon. Please, enter" Hargrove ordered. The two walked in and took a seat. "I have some news for you" He told. They listened intently. "As you know, for the last couple of days i have allowed you to work alone. However, i have come to the decision that needs to end" He said flatly. Nebraska was about to interject but he kept going. "I am signing you up with two of my other elite soldiers. Felix and Agent Delaware" Nebraska gulped at that. "Do you feel threatened, Nebraska?" Hargrove questioned. Nebraska shook his head. "Good, because they're coming in now"

Felix walked in first followed by Delaware. Upon seeing Nebraska, she growled. "Jay"

"Rose" Nebraska said in response.

"Ahem" Hargrove cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him. "I know you two don't have the _best_ pasts together but heres the thing. You need to work together, or you lose your pay" He reminded. "Understood?" They nodded hesitantly. "Now, i am not going to wait" He began. "This planet needs to be destroyed as quickly as possible. So, i have come up with a plan to get us in there and activate the purge in mere days" They perked up at that. "Despite its speed, it is still extremely reliable"

"What is it?" Felix asked, smirking.

"Oh, you'll know that later" Hargrove replied, his devilish smile could be heard in his voice. "For the moment, Neon... care to help us uncover some code. We need it for the plan" He stated. Neon saluted, nodding vigorously. "Excellent"

\---

"So Cabby..." Mackenzie began, as herself and Caboose made it to the kitchen. "You wanted to talk?" She raised an eyebrow; going over to the pantry and pulling out some pancake ingredients. He bit his lip. After a couple seconds, he started sniffling. His eyes grew watery and he stopped looking at her. "Cabby!" Mackenzie pulled him into a tight hug. "Whats wrong hun?" She asked softly.

"I d-don't wanna outlive my friends!" He said inbetween sobs. Mackenzie froze. "I don't think i can... handle it..."

"Oh hun, its okay" Mackenzie comforted. "I'll still be here. I'm from the moon _too"_

"B-but what about Church? Gruff? Simon?" Caboose descended into nothing but ugly sobs and hiccups. "Agent Washingtub? Smith?" Even Mackenzie seemed to tense up at that last name. "They'll go and i'll still be here! W-what am i gonna do...w-without them?" He stuttered. "I can't..." He rested his head on her shoulder as he sobbed heavilly. "I can't..." He repeated shakily.

Mackenzie sighed. "Hun, its oka-"

"M'am, if i may interject?" Mackenzie looked up and saw Smith waving awkwardly. "If you don't mind, can we please have a talk? If you don't want to, thats fine" He assured. "So, can you? Please?"

Mackenzie nodded before she looked directly into Cabooses eyes. "Go talk to Church about this, okay hun?" Caboose nodded in response, walking away slowly. When he was out of sight she turned over to Smith. "Yeah? What is it Smithy?" He blushed a little at the nickname. "What do ya need?"

"Well m'am" Smith began. "Kimball said she wanted to talk to you in... _private"_ He informed. "Something urgent"

Mackenzie frowned at that. "Ah. I see hun" She clenched her fists. "I'll be right there" She saluted weakly before walking away. Smith watched her leave. She seemed nervous which Smith hadn't seen her be before. He wondered why.

What could _she_ be so afraid of?

 


	4. Chapter 3; Something Off

Mackenzie sighed as she opened the door to Kimballs office. The brunette sat at her desk with a stern look on her face. Mackenzie took a seat and prepared herself for what was coming. "Mackenzie J. Caboose..." Kimball began, her voice cold and dark. "Lets just say, when Carolina told me all the names of the new recruits she hired yours caught my attention" She told. " _That name_ , i remembered thinking. _Where have_ _i_ _heard_ _that name_... and then i remembered" She stated. There was a long, almost chilling pause. "We know all about you, Mackenzie" She revealed, frustration in her tone.

In response, Mackenzie looked away. "I see"

Kimball clenched her fists. "You've been _around,_ haven't you Mackenzie?" She asked, though Mackenzie didn't reply. "And though i can't see beyond your armor, i'm sure that around your neck is the medal of honour you received some years ago" She said matter-of-factly. "Mackenzie..." Kimball sighed and then to Mackenzies surprise, smiled. "...we are so glad to have such a popular member of the community on our side!" She announced happily.

"Um..." Mackenzie raised an eyebrow. "Mind repeating that for me hun?"

"Oh don't be so modest" Kimball insisted. "Your heroic deeds have been broadcasted all across the galaxies and Chorus was no exception. Trust me, if you'd come sooner the war would've ended a _lot_ quicker. Please, allow me to offer you a new room" She said, smiling brightly. Mackenzie blinked in confusion. "Let me tell you, if i knew you'd be coming i would've prepared the best room we had" She told truthfully.

Mackenzie stayed silent for a couple seconds. "Thats what this was about?"

"Yes" Kimball nodded. "Is that a problem?"

"No hun, i was just... _worried"_ She admitted.

"About what?" Kimball sounded curious.

Mackenzie shook her head. "Eh, its not important" The blonde shrugged, getting up from her seat and beginning to walk out the door. "I'm just gonna go..." She laughed awkwardly, leaving the room. When she closed the door she took a breath of relief. "And here i was thinking she knew..." She smiled weakly. Suddenly, she felt a strong force grab her by the shoulders. "T-Tucker? Whats up hun?" She questioned.

The aqua soldier took deep breaths. "Holy shit-um, Mackenzie we need you're help! Please... tell me you've seen Wash, somewhere!? Anywhere!?" He sounded desperate. Mackenzie shook her head. "What!? Oh fuck, dude. He's gone missing. No-ones seem him in a whole two days. I think somethings happened M!" He shrieked.

"Woah" Mackenzie grinned nervously before resting a hand on his shoulder. "Calm your nitpick nerves hun... where'd ya see him last?" She asked. Tucker didn't answer. "New question" Mackenzie spoke up again. "Where was the last place someone saw him?"

\---

"You know he didn't mean it Grif" Simmons told. "He was just trying to protect Tucker" Grif groaned before nodding. "You should go apologi-" He stopped as Grif shot him a deadly glare. "Lets just wait until he apologies, alright?" Grif huffed, annoyed. "Now, lets see here..." Simmons went back to his laptop. "Huh. Thats... odd?" He raised an eyebrow. Grif turned to look at him, curious. "Chorus seems to be missing files?"

"Is it a glitch or whatever?" Grif suggested.

"Maybe" Simmons shrugged. "I doubt it" He paused. "No, more like... hacking. Maybe i can track the source" He bit his lip, clicking some stuff on his laptop. "No way. This is... Hargroves DEVICE!?" Simmons said panicked. "Theres some weird stuff on here too. Like impersonation files... i think Hargrove might've replaced some of the people in our squads!?"

Grif rolled his eyes. "Yeah right" He remarked, pulling out a bag of chips. "We'd notice"

"No we wouldn't!" Simmons snapped. "This is some high-tech alien technology. They'd take after our appearances, voices and some important memories" He gulped. "We can't trust anyone!"

"Pffffft, that can't be right" Grif chuckled.

"This is serious Grif!" Simmons retorted.

Grif moaned. "C'mon Simmons, you panick about everything!" He stated. "Seriously, its not like they're hacking us. The securitys better now, right? Besides, its not like they can just activate the Purge right here, right now"

\---

"At this rate, the purge could happen right _here,_ right _now!"_ Neon announced perkily.

Hargrove smiled, content with the news. "This is going much smoother then i had originally anticipated" He commented. "All we need now is to wait for Felix and Jay to get close enough to the Purge to activate it. They're already in place" He announced. Neon nodded excitedly. Delaware rolled her eyes. "You do not seem too be happy, Delaware..." He cocked an eyebrow.

"Sorry" She said sarcastically. "I just had trouble meeting the asshole who dropped me into space again" She spat. "But thats uncalled for... oh wait!"

"Delaware" Neon pouted. "I know what Nebraska did to you was awful but... he regrets it. He just had too. His uncle called him before he shot himself and told him too. As a last wish, y'know?" Neon told. Delaware didn't buy it. "Well, aren't you a delight" She muttered.

\---

"WASH!?" Tucker called out. No reply. He turned to Mackenzie. "What the fuck! M, we've been calling for hours" Mackenzie gave him an annoyed look. She knew he'd get frustrated if they found nothing, but that didn't stop her from getting a tad bothered. "If the Chorus guards didn't catch him here, how are we supposed to? Its not like hes gonna come back just like that-"

"Hey Tucker" Wash smiled. Tucker and Mackenzie turned to look at him. "Whats going on?"

"Dude..." A grin spread across Tuckers face, but then he started growling. "WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN!?"

"What? Oh, right. I decided to go for a walk" He chuckled lightly. "I think i tripped and hit my head... how long was i out?" He tilted his head to the side. One of Tuckers eye twitched. "I'm guessing long then" He paused. "Hey Mackenzie" He gave a slight, awkward wave. "How have you been?" He asked weakly.

"Good?" Mackenzie took a step back, a bit suspicious. Tucker too.

"We should probably get back" He reminded. "Kimball will be wondering about us" He told. They nodded. Soon, they were walking back side by side, engaging in light conversation. Wash took a deep breath. _Heh..._ he smiled. _They don't suspect a thing..._


	5. Chapter 4; Mistake

"Hey, what the fuck is up with you guys?" Church asked, turning over to Mackenzie and Tucker as they walked towards him. The two were looking behind them (where Wash was walking away from the two of them) with caution. "You guys look like you're spies or some shit. Whats with all the looks and why are they all aimed at Wash?" He questioned. It went silent for a while. "Did you guys have a threesome?"

"What the heck hun!?" Mackenzie glared at Church. "No!" She snapped. "Wait, did you ask if we did or if we're interested?" She added. Tucker and Church gave her a look. "Hey, i'm not. I just needed clarification on what he said. Not my fault y'all interpreted it that way" She said matter-of-factly.

Church rolled his eyes. "Point is, you look like you're eyeing Wash. Why?"

"I dont know dude" Tucker shrugged. "He's just been acting... _different"_ He commented. "Ever since he went missing for two day-"

"He went missing?" Church intervened.

"Good job noticing" Tucker replied deadpanned. "Anyways, ever since then he's like... _changed._ Not completely though. Sometimes he says things like how he usually would, but other times he gets facts about himself completely wrong. You know his comfort food right?" Church nodded. "Well, normally its spagetthi but now its caviar? He even had some. Where the **fuck** did he get Caviar!?" Tucker said exasperated. He took a deep breath. "Seriously, somethings up"

"Wait, did you say Wash wasn't acting... like himself?" The trio looked over to see Simmons now standing there.

Tucker groaned. "Yeah, dude. Its like if you were _trying_ to be him or something" He told. "But, i know what Wash looks like so... fuck that shit" He sighed.

"N-no... you have a point!" Simmons assured. "My laptop discovered some files. Apparently, Hargrove and his forces have figured out how to copy appearances, voices and other things about a soldier to impersonate them. Wash might be one of the two!" Simmons suggested.

"Wait, really? Thats insa-hold on" Tucker raised a hand. "What do you mean ' _one of the two'_?"

"Isn't it obvious? After i figured that out i went further into it. Next thing i know, i find out Hargrove has sent two of his best soldiers to pretend to be two of our greatest soldiers!" Church, Mackenzie and Tucker went wide-eyed. "It gets worse. According to the most recent posts... they're already here. Impersonating" He shook a little at the thought. "Judging by what you're saying, chances are that one of thems Wash... but what about the other? Like i've said, he sent two impersonators. Not one"

They all turned to face eachother, suspicious. "So, hun, it could be any of us?" Mackenzie spoke up. Simmons nodded. "Alright then. Church, are you the guy?"

"What, no! Infact, it can't be me!" He informed. "It'd be impossible!"

"How so dude?" Tucker cocked his head to the side.

"C'mon guys, i'm an A.I. remember? I'm gathering this shit only works for people. Besides, how can they make something as authentic as an A.I.? If they could, chances were they would've not needed the Epsilon unit back so badly. I'm clean" He explained. The others seemed content with that answer. "I don't know about you assholes though" He added suspiciously.

"Well, i think we'll find out soon" Simmons said, smiling weakly. "Kimball needed to save power for Chorus's systems for a while. So, she turned off the security just now. I think whoever it is, is going to go over to the Purge area. Atleast, according to the files" He brought up. "Thats why we should head over there now"

"Why?" Church raised an eye-brow.

"Because if anyone else is there besides us, chances are they're not there to guard it but to start it up" Simmons informed. "I was heading there now actually" He said truthfully.

"Eh..." Tucker thought for a moment. "How do we know if they're gonna be there or not? They might be there now as we speak!"

"I don't think they'd be there now. Judging by my calculations..." Simmons began. "It would take them well... roughly about half an ho-"

"Attention! All soldiers near the Purge! A threat has been detected!" A robotic voice boomed over the area.

"Well, shit" Church clenched his fists. "C'mon assholes, lets go!"

\---

Church, Mackenzie, Tucker and Simmons made it to the Purge, walking through a large steel door, seeing Wash down on the floor with a bullet through his leg and his helmet off. His armor color changed and as did his face. From a man with blonde hair and freckles he turned into a man with brown curly hair and equally entrancing brown eyes. Tucker examined the area to see Carolina, Grif, Donut, Lopez and Caboose were already there. Suddenly, the door closed behind them.

"Huh? What the fuck?" Grif started walking towards the door, slamming his fists on it. "We're locked in"

"Attention red and blue soldiers" Kimballs soothing voice played over the radio. "I know this isn't standard protocol but... in this room, according to our data, is the other impersonator. We can't pinpoint who exactly so we have made a plan. You guys will interrogate eachother and see who it could be. Once you think you have figured it out, shoot them. But..." There was a chilling pause. "If you get it wrong, then that person isn't an impersonator, but just a friend you've killed" She sounded like she was about to tear up. "This is the only way" They heard her mutter before the radio shut off.

"Fuck" Tucker said defeated, sitting down. "Okay, who was hanging out with anyone before the thing went off" He asked. Some people raised their hands.

"Ooh! I was hanging out with Lopez!" Donut said smiling.

[Si] Lopez confirmed.

"Me, Mackenzie, Church and Simmons were together too and... and everyone else was alone?" Tucker said, skeptical. They all nodded. "Huh" He sighed. "This is going to be tough. Who was here first?" Caboose asked. Caboose raised his hand. "Caboose, did you see anyone else in here when you arrived?" He said the words slowly so Caboose would understand.

"No, i do not think so. Or did i?" Cabooses eyes darted left and right. "No i definitely didn't. I was hallucicinating. It was not winter!" He beamed.

"Right" Church shook his head.

"Okay then huns, so where were ya before the alarm went off?" Mackenzie asked.

"I was doing something with Kimball. She can vouch for me that i was there" Carolina stated.

"I was doing a food-raid" Grif announced. "You can tell. Theres food missing"

"Let me just check that!" Church raised a finger. He pressed a button on his helmet. "Kimball, we need some help here. Any food missing from the cafeteria? Was Carolina with you at the time of the alarm?" He asked. Silence echoed throughout the room as they listened intently. "Ah, i see. Okay" Church shrugged, removing his finger from the button. "Yes and yes. There is food missing and Carolina was with Kimball"

"So then who the fuck is it?" Grif spat. "Can we just shoot someone and get it over with?"

"GRIF!?" Simmons snapped.

"What?" Grif raised an eye-brow. Simmons facepalmed.

"I don't even think we need to have a chat about this" Carolina said darkly. "Me and Church know exactly who did it" She told. Everyone gasped. Church looked confused. "And she is in this room"

"SHE!? OH MY GOD!?" Caboose pointed at Carolina. "It was you!?"

"No!" Carolina furrowed her brows. "It's Mackenzie"

"What hun?" Mackenzie blinked. "Did ya not hear Tucker? I was with him all day. I'm not bein' impersonated" She scoffed, crossing her arms.

"I'm not saying you are" Carolina spat. "I think you're working with Hargrove by yourself" Mackenzie shivered at that. "I mean, its obvious. Me and Church found your past Mackenzie. Pretty important, huh? You've worked with Hargrove on several occasions" She revealed. "Don't lie about it" Carolina warned, raising her gun at the blonde. Caboose couldn't believe it.

Mackenzie sighed. "Fine. Ya caught me. Sorta, anyway" Mackenzie admitted. "I don't work for Hargrove... now. But, i did. I did a lot'a stuff i'm not pineapple proud of under his command but... i wouldn't do this. Kill innocent people? No. This isn't me, and you know that. So please, bitch" She snarled. "Put down that fucking gun"

Carolina kept it raised. "C'mon dude" Tucker urged. "Mackenzies our frien-"

"We've only known her for around two months Tucker" Carolina growled.

"Oh please hun, you can't be serious" Mackenzie groaned. "Now ya just being delusional. I was with Tucker, Church and Simmons. I have a alibi" She reminded. "It can only be the people without alibi's"

"So you're saying its Caboose then?" Carolina retorted.

"No, i'm not! Cabby is fine. He was... he was..?" Mackenzie paused. "Cabby..." She turned to her cousin. "Where were ya before the alarm went off?"

"I was doing things... yes things. They were nice things" Caboose grinned.

"Huh" Carolina moved her gun over to Caboose. "He was the first one here"

Mackenzie and Church gave nervous chuckles. "Sis... hey! This could be Caboose, right? We might need to have a few more questions. Y'know?" Church spoke.

"Lenny does have a point" Mackenzie agreed. "This could be the real Cabby! We can't shoot him!"

"Now you're the ones being delusional!" Carolina said, smiling slightly. "This has to be the soldier. It makes the most sense. He was here first, has no alibi and is no-one we would ever consider. Its him" She laughed weakly. "It has to be. We need to shoot him. Besides, if we don't he'll activate the Purge. It is right there, after all" She said, tilting her head over to the machine. She aimed the gun at Cabooses head and began counting.

"W-what?" Caboose raised an eye-brow.

"SIS, DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE! LETS JUST RE-THINK THIS, OKAY!? WHAT IF ITS NOT HIM!? CAROLINA, ARE YOU EVEN FUCKING LISTENING TO ME!?" Church hissed.

"HUN, IF YA PULL THAT TRIGGER I'M GONNA... I'M GONNA..." Mackenzie shouted shakily, tearing up. "WHAT IF THAT IS CABBY! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY SECOND THOUGHTS? YOU MAY WANT TO WIN BUT WHAT IF YA WRO-"

*Gunshot*

Caboose fell to the ground with a thud. Carolina took a breath. They all watched Caboose, awaiting him to turn into a different person like how Wash did. He didn't. He stayed the same. Carolina felt a pang in her chest. It wasn't him. "Wait... what? But it had to be..?"

"CABBY! N-NO!" Mackenzie and Church ran to Caboose as they panicked. Mackenzie felt his heartbeat. Nothing. "N-no... Cabby... don't ya dare die on me! Thats it... c'mon" She lifted up the blue soldier. "Lets go! The doctor can help ya... like before..." Mackenzie sounded... _broken._ Church was silent. His eyes wide and tears escaping.

Carolina watched on in fear. _Did i..? No. There was no one else it could be_. Her thoughts were rushing.

Then, they heard a swish and Simmons grunting in pain. Carolina turned to see Simmons with a knife through his chest. Grif was behind him, holding a knife. His orange armor gaining shades of black. "You idiots" Felixs poisonous laugh was easily recognisable. "Say goodbye to Chorus!" He smirked, running over to the Purge and turning it on.

Carolina felt a pain in her chest. _Is this how i die?_ She asked herself. _Knowing i killed one of my closest friends?_

And then she collapsed.

 


	6. Chapter 5; The Purge Is...

"You guys are all such idiots!" Felix chuckled menacingly. "Its a real wonder why you haven't been killed yet" He commented. Tucker, Mackenzie and Church glared at him. Simmons was on the floor with a stab wound whilst Caboose was on the floor with a bullet through his head. Carolina and Donut seemed to be feeling the effects of the purge, clutching their chests as they fell to the ground. Lopez trying desperately to wake Donut up. "And here i thought i was being obvious" Felix gave a devious smile.

"Y'all are an idiot hun" Mackenzie spoke up, true anger in her voice. "We're not protected here. The purge was initially built with Data-I mean, _Santa,_ in the alien temple" She choked out. "Since its been moved, you're at the same amount of risk as all of us of being the next one to feel the effects. This room ain't any different from the others. The technology here doesn't correspond well enough with the original alien-based material" Mackenzie told. Tucker and Church looked at eachother with faces of confusion. _How did Mackenzie know all of this_? Before they could say anything about it however, she spoke up again. "You are _doomed,_ just like the rest of us!"

"You think i give a fuck about that? These soldiers took everything away from me" He spat, pointing at Tucker and Church with venom in his voice. "I had a job to do. Money to be paid. It would've worked! This stupid planet is worth way less then what i was promised with that deal!" He snapped. "But you... you idiots ruined _everything!_ Even turned my own partner against me, after years of being partners you poisoned his mind" He stopped himself before he ranted anymore about Locus. "That _money..._ what i _would've_ done. All lost because of you idiotic soldiers whose only positive trait is fucking _luck!"_

"Oh for- **dude**!" Tucker clenched his fists. "You're still fucking caught up about that? What else were we supposed to do? Be nice to you?" Felix stayed suspiciously silent. Tucker blinked. _Wait... is that what he wanted? No, no... that would be stupid._ "You're just a lunatic!" Tucker scolded.

[Can one of you idiots give me help with Donut... please!] Lopez pleaded as he attempted to lift up Donuts body.

 _"N-no..."_ Donut slurred. "Lopez, _w-what_ about... _Simmons?_ He's..." The pink soldier tried to point to Simmons seemingly lifeless body, but was to weak too. "W-we _can't_ just... _h-he'll..."_ Donut trailed off before fainting out of tiredness. Lopez continued to try and drag Donut over to the door before he knocked on it loudly.

"Heh. Try all you want" Felix teased. "That door won't open unless Kimball opens it and shes probably already being affected by the Purge as we speak" He reminded. Lopez furrowed his brows at him. "Hey, look on the bright side. You being a robot means you'll be fine. Church too"

"Wait hun, if you knew that then why even bother!?" Mackenzie scowled. Felix raised an eyebrow at her. "At most, you'd only get a few of us then. Considering Simmons is a cyborg he would have been unaffected too. Same with Grif; having multiple unaligned body parts would make him unreadable. You should've just-"

"Oh, do you _really_ think i didn't consider that?" Felix cackled. Mackenzie stared at him. "Its just, at first... i wasn't up for sacrificng myself to kill _you g-guys..."_ Felix stuttered, the Purge starting to carry onto him. _"B-but..._ heh, then i found someone else it would end up destroying. **You"** He pointed at Mackenzie. "They're all gone y'know. You coule have saved _t-them._ While we try to break Grif guess what! You were the reason his colony failed too. I bet all the colonies you left behind died off. Not like _y-you'd_ care" He grinned. "Without you, none of this would have happened" He finished, before fainting similarly to how Donut had earliar.

Mackenzie eyed Cabooses body before she looked back at Felix's. " _This is all my fault._.." She muttered.

"Dude... _M_..." Tucker rested a hand on Mackenzies shoulder. "He's just trying to get into your head. Felix is all kinds of fucked up. He'd go too far to break your mind" He explained. Mackenzie nodded. "What are we going to do now? Await death?" Tucker said defeated, sitting down. "Theres no way out of this... we're all going to die"

Mackenzie wanted to tell him, to _assure_ him, the truth about The Purge. How they'd be fine but... she couldn't. It would give her away. It would tell them she had more to do with it then what she was letting on. Sure, she wasn't involved now, but she was involved at a point. They just didn't know how involved she was. Well, one did... and she was unconcious on the floor. She'd wake up soon. Mackenzie couldn't let her tell.

"So, C-Caboose is dead... you guys are going to... well..." Church spoke up after being silent this whole time. "What do we do? Me and Lopez will be fine. Do we just... _go?"_ He asked timidly.

Tucker shrugged. "Do what you want dude. It won't matter. Wash is kidnapped, same with Grif. Simmons has a stab wound and Caboose has a bullet hole through his head" He cringed. "Theres nothing we can do"

 _"C-Cabby..."_ Mackenzie sniffled, her eyes widening. "I can't live without him. _H-he's_ my everything..." She sobbed quietly. Mackenzie was usually strong, but when it came to this she was at a loss. Caboose didn't get effected by the purge, he was shot. Shot through the head. That should be fatal to him. That is fatal. Mackenzie clenched her fists. "I _c-can't..._ "

"Hey M, its fine" Tucker almost sounded satisfied. As if this death was well deserved. It made Church tremble a little. "You wont have to live without him" He reminded. "We're dying... _too"_ There was sadness in his tone.

 _Thats what you think._ Mackenzie growled. "Yeah hun, sure" She faked agreement.

 _"D-dudes..._ do you think... Wash will be mad at me..? In _h-hea-"_ He choked, slurring a little. "Wherever i end up _f-for_ just... abandoning him..? _S-sorta._ Letting him getting kidnapped?" He began laying down. Mackenzie nodded. Church aswell. _"G-good"_ He finished, slipping into an unconcious state.

Mackenzie felt like her head was spinning. She was dizzy and wanted to throw up. Church was horrified, Lopez too but more quiet about it. Mackenzie rested a hand on his shoulder. She knew she'd regret saying this, but her ~~future brother-in-law~~ **friend** needed to know. "Mackenzie, hands off" Church clumsily ordered. "I don't want to-"

"Hey hun" Mackenzie started softly. "We'll be fine. This technology was programmed by me to stop aliens. All human contact results in becoming unconcious" She explained. "It'll only last a little while. An hour at most"

"W-what?'' Churchs eyes went wide. He was about to comment more on it when Mackenaie collapsed.

 _"G-goodnight_ hun"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things you might not have realised!
> 
> *Mackenzie reverts from Brotherinlaw to friend because Caboose is dead.  
> *Tucker was unsure whether or not he'd get into heaven so he changed it.   
> *If you look back in these previous chapters, there were some hints to Felix being disguised as Grif. Tell me in the comments if you can figure them all out.
> 
> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment!


	7. Chapter 6; Waking Up

Tucker was expecting death. He wasn't expecting... _this._

He had woken up. After that, it was instantly strange. You can't just wake up from death. He couldn't see properly though. Just small glimpes of what was happening. One moment he saw the door opening, then he saw doctor grey and Bitters staring down at him and the next he saw himself being laid down on a hospital bed. Now however, he was starting to see clearer. Doctor grey was sitting by his bed and discussing what happened. He wasn't really listening. Not because he was still unable to focus but because he was too busy concentrating on other things. Mainly the two people near the door that were talking. A soldier and a nurse.

"According to this, Lavernius will be fine" Said the nurse, as she looked at her checkboard. "As will the others effected. Carolinas proving to be quite the struggle though. Felix has already woken up, same with Jay. Do you want to see _him?"_ The soldier shook his head. "Understandable. It would be quite the hassle seeing you after all of this. He'd likely have a heart attack. We may not like him, but we need him alive"

The soldier nodded. "I know we do" Tucker blinked. _That voice._

"Yet, as for Simmons and Caboose... they are not fairing so well..." She sighed. "Simmons wound is infecting at an alarming rate and we don't have the proper equipment to deal with his cyborg parts that were struck. Caboose is worse. A bullet-hole though the head? He's only still alive because of Church going into his body and trying his hardest to make the process slower, to give us some time but... we _can't_ help him. He's as good as dead!" She said panicked, trying to calm herself down.

Tuckers eyes widened. _"C-Caboose..."_ He slurred.

"There must be something we can do. Keep trying" The soldier instructed.

The nurse took a deep breath. "We are" She said sadly. "But after a while, there'll be nothing else to try" She informed. "We looked around for Wash and Grif, as soon as we heard about their replacements. We found Wash over by some rocks near the cove. He was pushed. Barely alive. If we were any later he would've been..." She paused. _"Grif._ Um, Grif... he was hidden behind an alien temple. He's fine. Though Jay took Wash's body and Felix, Grifs... we feel as though Jay was the one who knocked Grif out whilst Felix took care of Wash" She stated.

"Why?" The soldier cocked an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged. "Its just... Wash was pushed. Off a _cove._ He got no treatment. That sounds more like Felix, doesn't it?" The nurse asked. "More then it would him finding Grif and feeding him carefully, as he was unconcious, as to not let him die? We may know very little about Jay, but some sources state he had a foul taste for killing" She told, interested in her own words. "Either way, it makes more sense for him then Felix"

Tucker took some of his remaining energy just to roll his eyes. _Yeah right_.

The soldier turned away for a second. "What about... _her?"_ He pointed over to a bed which Tucker later found out had Caboose on it. Mackenzie sat near him, watching him closely. Not even looking away once. Even when a nurse dropped a large tray, she didn't even bat an eye as to what the sound was. Just... _watched_ him. "The blonde. Country woman it seems... _relative_ of Michael?" He elaborated. Their first names were used so rarely it took Tucker a couple moments to process that it was Caboose he was talking about.

"Oh, _her?"_ The nurse tilted her head to the side. "She woke up first. According to Church, that is" She corrected. "She hasn't left Cabooses side. Not since we brought him here. I don't think shes even got herself any food either. I'm worried about her, personally" The nurse stated. "She _really_ cares about him"

"Don't they all? They act like they dislike eachother but if one got hurt they'd rush to their side. They are very interesting individuals Maya" He commented. _Maya._ Tucker thought. _So thats the nurses name._ "Even when i was on the other side i still knew that fact" Tucker stared at him, confused. _Other side?_ "Maya, you mentioned Church... the A.I. if you will. Where has he been since this has all unfolded?"

"In the cafeteria with Lopez. Though we do have questions for them, i think its best not to interrupt. They just witnessed-well, _thought_ they witnessed all of their friends dying. Its best to leave them be" Maya explained. "And we wouldn't want you visiting them either. They don't know you're here yet"

"And its best they never do" He warned. "Those idiots would never trust me"

"Maybe they'd trust you if you didn't call them, well... _idiots?"_ She suggested.

The soldier sighed. "As always, you are right Maya" He concluded, walking off.

"Tucker!" Tucker snapped his head around to see Doctor Grey glaring daggers at him. "Have you even been listening to a lick of what i've been telling you?" She questioned. Tucker shook his head nervously. Doctor Grey facepalmed. "Well, i can't hold it against you! You were unconcious for a little while after all" She said cheerfully. "And it was fun giving you a full body scan!" She smirked. "Though, despite you're optimism about the chance of intercourse aswell as your boasting i figured it would've been just a _little_ bit bigger"

"Thanks Doctor Grey..." Tucker said sarcastically.

"No problem Lavernius" Doctor Grey gave a genuine smile. "Now, i need to do a little check-up on Caboose and then i'll be back! Hopefully his friend won't try and interrupt me this time" She paused. " _It isn't looking good though..._ " She said quietly, utter seriousness in her tone. She snapped back to her perky self. "Enjoy the infirmary food. We finally got some rations through, so enjoy your pudding!" She finished, skipping off.

Tucker groaned. He laid on his back and stared up at the ceiling. He thought he was done with this. They were back at Blood Gulch. Things were finally normal. When did it all go so wrong? Before he could think further on it, a familair alien grumble was heard beside him.   
  
[Father, is that you?]


	8. Chapter 7; Side Character Dedication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had happened just like that.

It had happened just like that.

Mike had been training with the others, nothing out of the ordinary but then... he just collapsed. He was in pain. He didn't understand. What had he done? Next thing he knows hes in a hospital bed with Honey-Lemon in another bed by him. She was awake and eating pudding. Messily getting it on the sides of her cheeks. He'd never admit it, but it was adorable.

"W-what happened?" Mike asked her, rubbing his eyes to see if this was all a dream.

"I have no idea!" Honey-Lemon perkily replied. "I was just playing a board game when suddenly, i'm here. Gotta say, this bed is _positively_ wonderful!" She remarked.

"Wait... board game? No-one else knows you're here and we had training.Who played with you?" Mike blinked.

"Myself!" She answered gleefully, taking a gulp of pudding. "Anyways, i've been waiting for you to open those beautiful eyes for a while now... i have something so totally important to ask you!" She told. Mike sighed and laid back down; awaiting the question. Honey-Lemon fidgeted with her hands and frowned. Something was off. Honey-Lemon _never_ frowned. "Um, when i signed up for this i thought everything was going to be so wonderfully amazing, y'know?" Mike nodded. "Well... when this happened. When it faded to black. When the alarms went off... i realised something" She choked. Mike listened intently. "This is going to be serious, isn't it?"

Mike raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"We're in an actual war! People shooting, people yelling and people killi..." She trailed off. "This isn't going to he solved by friendship, is it?" She asked quietly. "I shouldn't have come. These people mean business, and they're doing a _wonderful_ job!" She couldn't help but compliment. "But i can't do that. I can't even witness it! We need to hurt people for this... right?"

"Uh... well..." Mike avoided eye-contact before smiling confidently.  "If you're here, i bet you can cheer them up. Maybe throw one of your signature parties? Friendship is an option. Peace and all that shi- _stuff_ " He wasn't usually this optimistic, but it seemed like Honey-Lemon really needed it. "We have _you,_ so... we **can** do it" He forced enthusiasm.

"Y-you really think so?" She tilted her head to the side. Mike gave her a weak thumbs up. "Yay! This is absolutely true! Great thinking! Amazing thinking! Become a doctor!" She reccomended. "I will solve this through happiness and cheer! No frowny faces and only happy emoji's all around!" She laughed brightly.

"Yeah..." Mike took a breath of relief as Honey-Lemon started to become her bubbly self again. He could not handle her acting any weirder.

\---

"So, hes in _this_ room?" Cross asked the doctor. She nodded. He sighed and opened the door. There, he saw Leo on the hospital bed asleep. The covers fallen on the floor no doubt to his restless sleeping. Cross almost chuckled at that. He walked up and rested the apple juice he brought with him on the bedside table. He grabbed the covers and put them back over Leo. "There we go..." He said, putting his hands on his hips.

"Do you want to stay in here? He'll wake up _any_ moment" The doctor questioned, a hand on the door handle. Cross shrugged. She stared at him for a moment before closing the door.

Cross walked up to the bed and raised the covers, making his way into the bed. He cuddled up close to Leo. Leo dizzily woke up in return. He noticed Cross cuddling him. Cross expected some annoyance but instead Leo moved closer. "You _could've_ asked" Leo yawned.

"But i didn't" Cross said smiling.

They drifted back to sleep. This time, together.

\---

Diancie sat up from the hospital bed. She looked around. She was in a hospital room. No-one else was in there. It was just her attached to some medical equipment. She waited for some noise, anything but... it stayed quiet. "Hello?" She called out. "Diancie is awake!" She was greeted by silence. She took a long look at the chair next to her. It was meant to be a chair for guests but no-one had took it upon themselves to sit in it. "Huh"

The door opened suddenly. A nurse walked in. "Hello Ms. Seattle" She waved. "Sorry, every where i turn theres people visiting others. I couldn't get through!" She gave a nervous chuckle.

"Oh!" Diancie smirked. "So someone did visit Diance, while she was asleep?"

The nurse shook her head. "Sorry, no. No-one has come to see you today" She informed.

Diancie held back tears. She couldn't appear weak, so she wiped them away. "I see" She faked happiness. "Diancie understands. Very busy systems. Thy just needs to wait!" She stated. The nurse agreed before handing the red-head a book. "What is this?"

"Oh, just a novel. If you get bored" The nurse grinned, walking out of the room.

Diancie flipped through the pages. "N-neat. Seems worthy"

_How can you say that? Worthy? Everything is worthy of you!_

_Oh, don't be so mean voice._

_I can and i will. She needs to realise shes an idiot._

_She is 'we'. You're insulting yourself!_

_I don't care. No-one likes her anyway. Shes used to it._

_Stop spurting out facts! Its rude!_

_I'm rude? Did you not even hear what you just said?_

"S-shut up you two!" Diancie warned, rubbing her head. "Diancie is just being weak! You two chatting doesn't help. It makes thy feel crazy for hearing thee"

_You are crazy, stupid._

_We're voices in her head. That should be obvious. No need to mention it._

"I SAID SHUT UP YOU TWO!" Diancie screeched.

"M'am, are you... _okay?"_ A nurse asked. She must have walked in the room without Diancie noticing.

"Y-yes!" Diancie lied.

They could never know after all. Never.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment!


	9. Chapter 8; A Little Rat

"That wasn't supposed to happen"

Hargroves voice was cold, aswell as frustrated. Why didn't the Purge kill them? It was supposed to. The blonde he had hired quite some time ago had assured him it would and she was usually trustworthy. However, this was the same girl who was now on their team. It wouldn't surprise him if she snuck a look and reworked it. Yet, it was impossible. A guard would have noticed her. It must have been done the first time.

That thought just made Hargrove more angry.

"Jay..." Neon sniffled. "Captured?"

"Serves him right" Delaware muttered. "That fucker can starve in a cell for all i care"

Hargrove sat up from his chair and eyed the two women before him. He sighed. "I didn't want to do this. After all, it _won't_ do well for my image..." He stated. The two raised an eyebrow at him. "Hire as many ships as we can afford. We're going in for a direct attack" Delaware went wide-eyed. "They won't suspect it, especially after _this_ incident" He informed. Delaware and Neon stayed quiet. "Well?"

Delaware stepped up. "Sir..." She glared. "This is absolutely ridiculous" The brunette scolded. "This won't work. We need to be discreet"

"Discreet wasn't working Miss Reynolds. We need to try something else" Hargrove retorted.

"Hey Hargrove, mind if i say something?" Neon asked, stepping infront of Delaware. Hargrove gave a slight nod. "You see, there is another way to enter their defenses that none of them would suspect. They're all too trusting. Remember Felix, when he pretended to be a good guy?" She smirked. Delaware blinked, wondering when exactly Neon and Jay joined Hargroves side; considering she said that as if she had been present during it. "How about if we send in another soldier?"

"Hmm" Hargrove thought for a moment. "Are you sure that would work again? Let me remind you, these soldiers have passed through all of our previous deceptions. It would be rather-"

"Whose to say this little one is already a soldier?" Neon interrupted, smiling devilishly.

"Little one?" Hargrove repeated, intriqued.

Neon giggled. "Do you recall the illegal child that was had between Agent Michigan and one of our few alien soldiers?" She tilted her head to the side. "Eleven years ago, i think"

"Yes" Hargrove started walking closer to Neon, making her shake a little. "We had them shot for it"

"Yeah, well... heres what i'm thinking" Neon began nervously. "That child has been a real problem. Playing pranks, taking up majority of our supplies and all sorts of stuff. Yet, they are a good fighter. Being young they are much more flexible and energised" She reminded. "We could send them in to play an innocent role. An apparent young girl who had her parents killed by us and-"

 _"Apparent?"_ Delaware shook her head. "We _did_ kill her parents you idiotic A.I."

"It's Neon" The rainbow spotted A.I. flared up a little. She took a deep breath. "Point is, who would suspect a child? I bet none of those soldiers would. Even in these _dire_ situations they're in right now" She chuckled. "Besides, not _only_ would we be tricking the reds and blues into a state where this child could, i don't know, lower the defenses in secret so we could enter?" Neon said, nudging the Chairman happily. "But we could also get rid of that little rat!"

Hargrove rested a hand on his chin. "That is an alluring choice" He remarked.

Neon grinned in return. "Exactly. So, what do you say?"

"I'll go with it. Yet, if this is not a success..." He leaned forward, eyes dead as he gazed into Neons. "An A.I. will be erased from existence" He spat. Neon gulped before saluting. "Now, i need ro make a call to set this plan in motion. You two, head to the training room. I want you, Miss. Reynolds, to start work on using an A.I. in battle" He told.

"Fine" Delaware rolled her eyes; not really wanting to.

The two left the room. Delaware with footsteps and Neon with a quick flash of light. Hargrove walked up to the control panel and pressed a button. "H-Hargrove!" A soldiers shaky voice answered his call. "W-what do you need?" The man asked.

"I need you to send in someone" Hargrove instructed.

"Really?" Even the soldier sounded surprised. "Delaware? Neon? The... _usual?"_

"No" Hargrove replied.

"Then... who?" The soldier asked, obviously confused.

"That alien/human hybrid" Hargrove said flatly.

The soldier stayed silent for a short moment. "You don't mean..?"

"Yes" Hargrove couldn't believe he was saying these next words. "Send in... Iris"

\---

"This is wrong" Josie said, wiping away her tears. Iris rolled her eyes at her comrade. "What if we get caught? I don't want to go to the cell again!" She said, sniffling.

Personally, it was an understandable concern.

"We'll be fine" Iris assured. "Besides, its only fair. They didn't give us dinner last night, so we deserve this" She told, finally picking the lock. The door opened revealing a bunch of canned foods. "Come here. I'll give you a boost. Get us something good" Iris guided. Josie nodded before climbing onto Iris's shoulders. She poked around in the cupboard once it was in reach. "Whats in there?"

"Nothing much" Josie sighed. "Just protein bars and some fruit"

Iris poked out her tongue. _"Ew!_ Any sweets?"

Josie paused. "Doesn't seem like it" She said sadly. Iris pouted.

"Hey, you two!" Josie and Iris turned around swiftly to see a man in green armor pointing at them. "What the fuck are you kids doing? Thats our food storage!" He shouted. "You come here, now!" He instructed, stomping towards them angrily.

Iris grabbed Josies hand and ran for it. They passed a couple hallways and took a right turn. To their surprise, they saw a soldier with white and blue armor peering down at them. "Just the little rat we were looking for" He laughed, paying extra close attention to Iris.

Thats weird. Iris thought. Theres no way these guys were alerted of what we'd done that quick.

"Hey!" The guy in green showed up again, panting as he made the corner. "Get them! Those two... were at the... food... storage..." He tried to breathe.

"At ease soldier!" The guy in white and blue raised a hand. "Hargroves given us orders for Iris to see him personally" He informed. The green guy couldn't believe it. "You may take Josie. She is of no use to us" He commented. Josie shuddered and shared a concerned look with Iris. "Iris, come" The soldief ordered.

Iris crossed her arms and followed. "Good luck Josie"

"Good luck Iris" Josie replied, worried for her friend and for herself.

\---

Iris entered the room and sat down on a small chair. She stared down at the floor and then back up at the one infront of her. Upon that one, sat a disapointed looking Hargrove. Iris groaned. "So, what did i do this time that was so important that i had to see you of all people?" She asked.

Hargrove stayed silent.

"You know i don't care, right?" Iris stated. "You didn't feed me so it was only fair that i snuck some food" She shrugged, leaning back in her chair. "Why don't you just shoot me? Thats what you did to my parents" She said, unnervingly casual.

"Are you aware that you're speaking to-"

"The Chairmain of Charon industries?" Iris finished. Hargrove flinched a little. "Listen, just let me go home... and leave Josie alone. It was my idea after all" She requested.

Hargrove sighed. "Iris, if you don't mind, i've come to grant you the luxury of an offer. Not a punishment" Iris perked up at that. "You know the red and blue soldiers?"

"Of course" Iris sounded almost insulted. "Who doesn't?"

"Well, we need them gone" Hargrove told, voice monotone. Iris paid no mind to the serious nature of his tone. Instead, she began playing with a sharp knife. "Do you know how to use that?" He pointed at her sharp object. Iris smirked and threw it, the blade flying dangerously close to Hargroves face. "I suppose so, then" He said, staring at the knife that was now cut into the wall. He turned to face the eleven year old once more. "Are you a good actor?"

"Yeah" Iris smirked at him. "So, i get what you want. Price?"

"How about sending that friend of yours, Josies, off this airship and back to earth?" Hargrove smiled.

Iris beamed. "Really!?" She hopped with excitement. "Man, Josie would love that"

"Wouldn't she?" Hargrove added slyly. "And all you'd have to do is-"

"Sold" Iris interrupted.

"Really?" Hargrove had suspicion in his voice.

"Of course" Iris proclaimed, leaving the comfort of her seat and pulling her knife from out of the wall.

"I'm actually quite surprised" Hargrove admitted. "You agreed to our terms rather quickly"

Iris laughed. "What can i say?" She shrugged. "Those reds and blues won't know what hit them when this little rat comes!"


	10. Chapter 9, An Unexpected Turn

_Alive._

Bitters felt like that was odd. He had heard people talking and the alarms going off. Woman and man soldiers shouting 'The Purge' right before his ears. Yet, he was fine. By the time he started feeling just a _little_ bit dizzy, everyone else was waking up and his sickness quickly vanished. Before he knew it, people were getting released from hospital and acting as if nothing had happened. It was unnatural. _Why aren't_ _th_ _ey worried?_ Was it just something he was doing? He doubted it. There _had_ to be others concerned.

Kimball had instantly assigned Bitters a duty though. An important one. He considered that being the main cause of his concern. He had to watch _Felix._ He didn't know why Kimball was trusting him; especially for something like that. He wasn't the most _reliable_ in missions. Maybe she saw something in him, or could that be Bitters ego talking? Probably the latter.

Bitters had made it to the cell. He was in full armor holding a gun that could put someone in a coma if he used it well enough. (Knowing himself though, that was a slim chance). It wasn't even lethal. He didn't know why they were keeping Felix alive. It just didn't make any sense to him. If he could, he'd _kill_ Felix right then and there. No second thoughts or hesitation. There was good reason behind that too. This guy had taken Bitters life away. Before the war, before everything. This war could have ended and Bitters could've been just a normal teen. Not all of this war bullshit.

 _Sure_ , they didn't _start_ the war but they _continued_ it. No matter how close they were to ending it the two mercenaries had ruined every attempt. _What happens, happens..._ Bitters supposed.

"What? Are you just gonna stand there and not even say hello?" Felix spat from inside the cell. Bitters turned. _Too busy thinking to care_. He figured. Though, he wouldn't tell Felix that. That _asshole_ didn't deserve an answer. "Oh. Too good to talk, huh?" Felix glared. Bitters shrugged and maintained his silence. "Fucking asshole" The mercenary muttered coldly.

Bitters kept his stance. Even despite the rude comment. Even Grif could offer him some good advice sometimes; _never let them see that they get to you_. Sure, it was from a movie. Yet, it was still a good piece of advice that Bitters could go off of that didn't involve sleeping or thieving food from the storages without getting caught.

Suddenly, to Bitters surprise, the door opened. Not to the cell but to the entrance. He didn't think anyone would want to visit Felix but he supposed he was wrong. The person who walked in had dark blue armor, almost _identical_ to Captain Cabooses but... it _couldn't_ be him. Bitters _knew_ very well that Caboose at the moment wasn't fairing so well with a bullet through his head and all. This was someone _new_. "Who the fuck are you?" Bitters asked, raising his gun. Though intended to be a threat, it came off uncaring. Thus was Bitters average attitude.

"Mackenzie, hun" The soldier replied; revealing themselves to be a woman. She took off her helmet to reveal blonde hair and a couple scars. There was even one that took particular interest to Bitters. One with purple and pink glowing tints. It was barely noticeable unless you were really paying attention. "I need to talk to Isaa- _Felix_ " She stated.

"Mackenzie..." Bitters repeated the name. "Aren't you that relative of Captain Caboose? You were the one not leaving Cabooses side this morning, weren't you?" He cocked his head to the side. Mackenzie nodded. "Hold on, last i heard the nurse said you had no interest of leaving him. So why did you now?"

"Hun, i might aswell be doing _something_ " Mackenzie said honestly. "Not spending all day mourning over the possibility he might..." She paused, not finishing the sentence. Yet, Bitters _knew_ what she was going to say. Mackenzie sighed. "Point is, i just... have to talk to him. So, if ya could just let me pass-" She started walking towards him, and stopped talking as Bitters blocked her path. "Hun, i _don't_ wanna do someth'n hostile. Especially considering Palomo-"

"Wait... is that a threat?" Bitters blinked. Mackenzie cursed at herself. "That was, wasn't it?" He raised his gun.

"No fucking way" Felix smiled sinisterly, reading Mackenzies expression like a book. "I know what your gonna do..." He almost laughed.

Bitters turned to face Felix's remark. "What is she gonna d-" Bitters fell to the ground as Mackenzie hit him over the head with her pistol. Felix stared silently.

Mackenzie took a deep breath as she opened the cell door. Felix cackled. "C'mon, kill me. I know thats why you're here- _wait_ , what?" Felix changed moods rather quickly as Mackenzie passed him an important looking document. "Why the fuck are you..?"

"Give this to Hargrove, hun" Mackenzie ordered. "And hurry up, okay? Soldiers will be coming in here quickly"

Felix took a while to process what had just happened. "You're letting me... _go_?" He drawled out, clearly confused. Mackenzie huffed before nodding her head in confirmation. Felix stood up weakly, taking the note and running for it. He checked it as he sprinted (to see if it was a bomb) but it looked to be okay. This was... strange.

Why was Mackenzie helping him?

\---

"Whoa, you like that new chick?" Palomo said astonished. "What was her name again? Mikeala?"

"Mackzenzie, actually" Smith corrected, smiling.

"Huh" Palomo blinked. "I knew you guys hit if off when we met. You also went off together... and we couldn't find you. Sorry about leaving you behind too" Palomo chuckled nervously. Smith shrugged, giving a genuine smile. "You both seem to be normal, so thats already going good. Everyone else here is kind of... _weird_ "

"What about Captain Caboose?" Smith asked.

"I dunno" Palomo questioned. "Isn't he a little dumb?"

"Aren't shyou a little dumb?" Palomo looked up to see Jensen. Palomo chuckled at the remark nervously. Jensen sat next to them. "Sho..." Jensen began, in her usual lisp. "Shmith, this Mackinzie shick. Whats she like?" Though Jensen didn't really want to discuss about her crush's love interest, she wanted to like Mackenzie. Knowing what made her special should help.

Smith admired the very thought of Mackenzie. "Well, shes confident, strong and never goes against the team- _Wait_ , what are those guards doing?" The trio turned to see Mackenzie sprinting passed them, followed by over fifteen guards. "M'am?"

"Get her!" One of the guards instructed. "She let Felix out!"

Smiths eyes went wide. "Wait... what?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment! :)


	11. Chapter 10, We Make It And As For Everyone Else..?

Church grumbled quietly. Next to him was Lopez and from across the table sat Grif and York. Church didn't dare look up at any of them because he had the feeling they'd start talking to him. He didn't need that right now. He just wanted things to be quiet. Granted, they probably wanted the same. Lopez hadn't made a single noise, same with Grif. York had originally tried to spark some conversation upon arrival, but after realising the atmosphere that surrounded the trio, he quickly shut up.

Church was pretty sure everyone was thankful for that.

According to the doctors, everyone was doing fine... but Church knew the truth. Not that the doctors were lying completely, its just that some of their patients clearly weren't fine at all. Especially Caboose.

Church clenched his fists at the thought of the blonde. Caboose didn't deserve this. Not one bit. Sure, he could be extremely annoying, but he was still innocent. If anything, he was just a kid. A kid that Carolina decided to shoot.

Church still couldn't believe her. Himself and Mackenzie told her not to. They did not have enough proof. Caboose wasn't that smart and he probably had no idea what was going on. No intelligent way to defend himself. Yet, Church did know that when Carolina pressed a gun to the young mans forehead, Caboose knew what was coming. That part was the one that made Church the most angry. 'Cause even if they did bring Caboose back, his innocence would stay dead.

"Hey Captains... and gold guy. Can i sit here, please?" They all turned to see Matthews. The teen with orange hair asked as he was holding a food tray, shivering slightly. Still, Church and the others could notice the fear in his eyes he was desperately trying to conceal. He was scared.

Grif took a deep breath. "Sure, whatever" He replied.

Matthews eyes lit up and he took a seat next to his commanding officer with pride. "So, Captain Grif. About this Dodgers... i swear i saw him stealing from your food stash" Grif looked up at the lietunent, instantly being able to tell Matthews was lying. "So maybe, you could leave him be as your second and choose me. Just a suggestion, no pressure. Please?"

It went silent for a moment. "You go clean my room, and i'll consider" Grif said flatly. Matthews saluted happily before running off; leaving his food tray behind. Church stared at Grif expectantly. All Grif did was raise an eyebrow at the cobalt soldier. "What?"

"...Aren't you going to steal the kiss-asses food?" Church asked.

Grif shook his head. "Nah. Times are rough dude. If i ate his food storages now, chances are he wouldn't get to eat for another two days. I'm not that much of an asshole" The orange soldier explained. "That award goes to you" Church's eye twitched a little at the remark. In return, the cobalt soldier scowled and crossed his arms.

Church thought for a moment before speaking up. "Uh, quick question... who the fuck is Dodgers?"

"He was my second in command. You didn't get one remember? The whole 'they thought you were dead' thing and all, being the main reason" Grif informed. Church groaned. "Hey, your lucky. This kid is a real idiot. He always wants to do runs, eat healthy and stuff"

[Sounds fucking awful] Lopez said sarcastically, after hours of utter silence.

"Huh" York grinned. "Well, atleast your robot seems to feel the same way" He smiled weakly. Lopez rolled his eyes before getting up and leaving the table. "Not one for attention though, i guess..." He sighed.

Church blinked at the gold soldier. "So, York... why haven't you been at Carolina's side this whole time? Because, being who you are it'd really seem like ya would do some shitty-ass romantic thing like that"

"Yeah, but... I kinda realised that she probably wouldn't care" York shrugged. "She doesn't love me. Anymore. I don't know when she stopped... i was too busy loving her to care. I was blinded. Thats what love does to you sometimes. I didn't get over it. Now, i think i have though. Its not what i thought it'd be like honestly..." He stated. "I'm happy"

"Good for you man" Church couldn't help but smile. "Wish i could say the same thing about myself right about now..." He added bitterly. "Caboose is gonna die..."

"So is Simmons" Grif said solemnly.

They sat in silence for a moment.

York sighed. "Well, this just got depressing"

"Agreed"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter. I haven't posted or updated anything in days so i decided to just go with what i had. Thanks for reading and please leave a comment!


	12. Chapter 11, Not In A Good Spot

Felix collapsed onto the snow upon reaching the front of Hargroves ship.

He was tired. His feet hurt. He managed to outrun the Chorus soldiers, but with that speed came consequences. For example, the unbearable pain coursing through his legs. Why did Hargrove have to park so far away? To not be seen, Felix kept telling himself. Still, that didn't mean he supported the decision. It just made things harder. Granted, sometimes things needed to be that way. Locus told him that all the time... back when he was around, atleast.

"Felix? How the fuck are you even here?" Felix looked up weakly to see Delaware. Her helmet was off (despite the freezing temperatures) revealing the brown flowing hair with the single purple highlight that had become her trademark. "You're meant to be captured... not standing here, before me looking like pure shit" She insulted.

"Good job being happy to see me Delaware!" Felix snapped with a tint of sarcasm. 

Delaware rolled her eyes. "Listen... i am glad to see you. Where's Jay?" She asked, looking side to side in search of the ex-freelancer. "Surely you two fuckers escaped together..." She stated.

Felix got up slowly and stared up at her. "That's just it... i didn't escape" He told. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Mackenzie helped me. I don't know why, but she did. She also gave me this note" He offered her the envelope Mackenzie had given me. She snatched it from him and examined it. "Don't know what the fuck it is. All i know is it isn't a trap or something like that... just ordinary paper. It's for Hargrove apparently" 

Delaware smirked. "Well, Hargrove is very much going to like this shit" She said, walking back into the ship. 

Felix growled. "So, you're not going to help me up then bitch? I'll just stay here then... wait 'til my legs stop hurting. You still going? Great! Fucking fantastic!" He called out, evolving into one of his classic rants. Delaware paid no mind to him. She just kept walking forward. "OH FOR FUCKS SAKE!?!"

"Hey..." She turned around. "If anything this is payback"

Felix spat. "For what?" 

"When you couldn't spare five fucking seconds to help me move a box" She retorted.

Felix clenched his fists. "YOU'RE STILL CAUGHT UP OVER THAT SHIT!?!"

\---

Kimball sighed as she looked through the files. None of them helping her at all. When they captured Felix, she had been suggested to go through everything on his profile. Information, genes etc. Yet, nothing came close to ground breaking. He had a mother who lived far off into space, though recent calculations claimed her missing. His dad had left him for another kid he had with a seperate mother. Felix had one known sibling. A brother. Under all the info Kimball had been accessed to, she had the least on him. All military organisations just called him Agent K. By the end of it all, nothing seemed like it could be used against Felix in any way.

Nothing to get him to talk.

Kimball slammed her head into the desk frustrated. Not hard, but just enough to cause a mighty headache afterwards. "There has got to be something..." She assured himself. "Something that will get him to tell us where Hargrove is..." She stated to herself. Suddenly, the door to her office opened. She raised her head to see him. Her newest soldier. She knew who he was, but nobody (aside from a few) did. After all, they wouldn't trust him. "Good evening soldier, anything to report?"

He took a deep breath. "Vanessa..." He paused. Kimball knew the news wasn't good, just by the fact he used her first name. "Felix has escaped" His voice sounded extremely concerned. Then again, who wouldn't be by that news. Kimball didn't reply. She stared at him with shock. Her eyes widening. "He was broken out by Mackenzie. Bitters has been knocked out. She has taken out multiple soldiers and breached our defenses and..." 

"She betrayed us" Kimball gazed at him, worried. "And what's the other thing? Please let it be good..." She pleaded. Judging by his face she knew it was definitely not." 

He exhaled. "...And on an unrelated note, Dick Simmons has unfortunately proved unresponsive to any treatment we've been giving him, due to the critical stab wound given through his chest" Kimball gasped, tears coming down her cheeks slowly. "Now, he's not dead. However, i wouldn't give my hopes up..." He sighed. "The medical equipment we need at the moment for him, will need to be ordered and delivered. Yet... it would not get here in time. Maya and doctor Grey are doing the best they can but..."

"Shit" Kimball usually didn't swear but when she did the situation definitely called for it. "There's got to be something we can do!" She shouted.

He paused for a moment. "Well, there are two, but you won't like them" He said truthfully.

"Tell me!" She commanded sternly.

He took a deep breath before continuing. "We can either find atleast one soldier who'd be willing to give up multiple needed parts or we can take all attention off of Caboose and shift it over to Simmons" He informed. Kimball felt her heart skip a beat. "Both result in unwanted casualties"

Kimball thought for a moment. "Simmons, Caboose or other soldier... Simmons, Caboose or other soldier..." She kept repeating the words in hope the answer would start to become clearer. She stared at him for a long moment before landing on a decision. "Find someone with compatible parts for Simmons" He saluted and made his way out of the room. "But, Sam..."

He turned around once more to face her. "Yes Vanessa?" 

"What happens if no soldier has compatible parts and we don't want to give up on Caboose just yet?" 

He froze. "Then i guess we'll have to let him go"

Kimball sighed. "Lets just hope that doesn't come into fruition then"

"But, Vanessa..." He started up again. "The chances of that are very slim" He comforted.

Kimball knew he was just trying to cheer her up, but she was still greatful. "Thanks, Locus"

"Your welcome Vanessa"

And with that, he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment!
> 
> P.S. Need to say this real quick. (Spoilers for s15 e5 ahead) Grimmons shippers rejoice! They did it! It's Canon!


	13. Chapter 12, Blood Gulch; Lights, Camera, Action!

Tex stretched at the front of blue base. "Augh, this is awful" She muttered. "I am going to kill them when they come back. How the fuck could they forget me..." She ranted to herself.

She gazed over the grassy area. Nothing of note except Sarge on the other side of the canyon with his shotgun looking back at her. He didn't look prepared, like he usually did when he was like this. More like nervous. Perhaps even feeling just a tad guilty? Tex didn't know and frankly, she didn't care. Then to her surprise, Sarge began aiming his shotgun at the sky. She looked up and instantly flinched.

"Well, that's new..." She grabbed her pistol.

Hovering down was an airship. It wasn't big, but definitely loud. It parked on the ground and the door began opening. Sarge jumped off red base and ran towards it; probably already storming up some crazy scheme to convert whoever was on the ship to red team. Tex cracked her knuckles and copied the same actions, deciding to head over to the mysterious airship.

When they got there, the door was still opening. It was especially slow.

"Alright, follow my lead" Sarge ordered.

Tex rolled her eyes. "I think i'll just trust _myself_ for this one, okay?"

The hint of annoyance in her tone gave Sarge the warning not to argue with her. "Suit yourself little lady"

They then stood in silence. Tex quickly furrowed her brows at him. "Did you just call me little lady?"

Suddenly, the door finally opened and revealed two people in armor. Both consisting of white with blue streaks. "Well, this isn't what i was expecting..." One said, voice of a females. "Frank, start the camera!" She instructed.

"Yes m'am!" The other person responded nervously, revealing themselves to be a male. "But it's actually Ja-"

"No time for this, Frank. Now, start rolling!" She told. He nodded and clicked a button on his helmet. She walked infront of him and gestured to Tex and Sarge. "This is Dylan Andrews and here we have atleast one of the notorious reds and blues among an unidentified individual. We are reporting here, at Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha. Original home of the current criminals that haunt our society today. Sarge, can you tell us why you have decided to take down multiple U.N.S.C. enterprises?" She asked fearlessly.

"What?" Sarge raised an eyebrow.

"Who the fuck even are you?" Tex pointed at Dylan. The man filming stood back.

"I could be asking you the same question" She retorted. "You are not a reported member of the reds and blues. Who are you then?" She turned slowly over to her camera man. "Frank, i think this goes deeper then we originally anticipated and... why is your head shaking like that?"

The man stopped his head from moving. He blinked at her. "Well, this seems like a pretty intense moment. I felt like shaky cam would give it a little more edge"

"What? Frank, what is with you today!?" She scolded.

"Actually, i'm Jax. Frank quit" The man now known as Jax replied weakly.

"What?" Dylan stared at him. "Why?"

"Well, he was kind of sick of being arrested all the time..." Jax commented. "And not to mention-"

"Okay, what the fuck!?" Tex stormed towards them. "You can't just accuse one of us of being a notorious crinimal, film us and y'know what? Be here for that matter. Command has made it so there is strictly no other people, asides from the reds and blues, in this area. What don't you get about that?"

Dylan gave her a thoughtful look. "What do you mean? The U.N.S.C has been sending countless special soldiers in here to take out the reds and blues. Ever since the attacks on tons of their properties, under _their_ names" She gazed over at Sarge. "Hmmmm, this is **really** interesting. Fra-I mean, _Jax_ " He perked up at his name. "Are you getting this?" She asked hopeful.

Jax nodded. "Yep. In black and white"

"This is the news Jax" Dylan reminded. "We _don't_ need any of that special stuff. No black and white. _Just_ film"

"Aww" Jax pouted. "It was never like this at those weddings..." He said to himself. Dylan rolled her eyes and groaned loudly.

"HEY!?" They all turned and looked in the direction of the voice. It came from one of blood gulchs signature hills. On top of it stood Zachary. "WHO THE FUCK IS THIS!?" She called out. When they chose not to answer, she ran down the hill. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous. We're stranded here. Atleast treat me with more respe-" She paused when her eyes got to Dylan. "Um, fuck. You look really familiar. Where do i know you from?"

"I am Dylan Andrews. Reporter" She introduced herself. "And you are?"

"Zachary" The red-head responded. "Red team" Dylan nodded in understanding. "You see, i was going to try and become friends with them, but they're just here. Talking to you" She sighed. "Anyways" She turned to face Tex and Sarge. "Me and the guys are watching a movie. Beauty and the beast, actually. Not the shitty live-action one either. Fully animated, fully magical" Zachary explained. "Wanna come? Zero made bacon pancakes"

Tex shook her head. Sarge too, with a little more hesitation. "No, sorry numbnuts" He decided.

"Numbnuts? Does that even make sense for a gir-oh, fuck it. I'll never get my point across" She said, feeling slightly defeated. After that, she took a step towards the base. That was when Jax spoke up.

"Could i please come? That was my favourite movie as a kid!" He asked.

Zachary shrugged. "Sure, whatever. I don't give a fuck"

Jax's eyes lit up and he began skipping over. Dylan grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. "Jax. We have a job to do" She glared at him.

"Yes, i see that" He said sadly. "But, i'm not doing that good of a job" He brought up. Dylan couldn't disagree there. "So, if i go, it's not that really much of a big loss. Unless we add some lighting, of course" And with that, he ran off to join them in far too much of a rush. Dylan shook her head at his actions. "Bye Dylan!" He waved.

Tex laughed weakly. "Here's advice for your first time with an idiot. There's no such thing as being right. They'll just say your wrong and keep going. It's better to accept the insanity, really" She advised.

Dylan grumbled. "Yes, but this is news"

Sarge chuckled. "It ain't real news to anyone, actually. Idiots come in three's. Might aswell build a robot to make up for it" He some-what insulted.

Tex smirked. "You mean a spanish robot no-one can understand?"

Sarge crossed his arms. "Touchè"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, now we're getting to the S15 aspect of the story. Now, with Dylan and Jax as characters. I hid a lot of things in this chapter. Such as why Hargroves attacking all of a sudden, how Sarge is doing without his team... all that jazz. 
> 
> Anyways, please leave a comment and thanks for reading!
> 
> *And now i'm off to start working on Back to Hawaii's finale, so stay tuned for that!


	14. Chapter 13, Lietunent Complications

Smith couldn't believe everything that had happened.

Mackenzie had betrayed them. She had set Felix free. Now, Smith wasn't usually one to take his frustration out on his belongings, but he still chose to slam the door open when he entered his room. Well, it was less rage and more confusion. Why would Mackenzie do this to them? To him? Then again, this was kind of expected. They (Smith included) knew very little about her.

Smith closed the door and soon collapsed onto his bed tiredly. He gazed at the ceiling. His room wasn't that big. It was just a small room that he shared with Palomo. It had two beds, a closet and a small motivational poster that Palomo had put up. Everything else was packed away in boxes. This was due to the fact Palomo was moving out soon to be with Bitters. Smith had acted like he didn't care.

He groaned into his pillow. "I can't believe she did that... and to think that i would've... _would've_..."

"Would've what hun?"

Smith jumped at the unexpected voice. He recognised it, but it couldn't be. It had come from the closet. He slowly got up and went to investigate. He opened the door swiftly and instantly raised his gun. "Ah. Ms. Caboose. Stand back" He ordered forcefully.

Mackenzie rolled her eyes. "Put your gun down Smith!" She glared. Smith couldn't help but oblige. "Listen, hun... i need your help" Smith raised an eyebrow. "I need to get out of here. Hargroves ship will be waiting for me any minute and-"

" _Hargroves_?" Smith choked. "You're working with _him_?"

"No, hun! I'm just _trying_ to... y'know what? Never mind. If you know then everybody **fucking** knows, _just..._ " Mackenzie took a deep breath as Smith stood there, taken aback by the random curse word. "Just help me" She pleaded. "I know it sounds really sh- _bad_ right now but trust me. You need to get me the hell out of here" She demanded. Smith thought for a long time. "I promise you, that this will not end well for _you_. You can trust me" She sounded honest as she offered her hand. Smith immediately regretted his decision as he chose to shake her hand. "Thank god. If you refused... I would've be a goner"

Suddenly, she sprinted past him to the opposite side of the room. She began searching. Opening boxes quickly but still taking the time to pack them up neatly. "Um... _m'am_?"

"Hun, you looked after my cousin while he was here didn't ya?" She asked hurriedly. Smith nodded weakly. "Well then, ya helped him get dressed didn't you?"

" _Unfortunately_ -i mean, yes m'am!" He saluted.

"Well then, do you still have his suit?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side.

"Yes? Why?" Smith blinked.

Mackenzie merely replied with a bright smile.

\---

Bitters grumbled loudly as he sat down in the chair. Kimball had called some soldiers over to discuss something. It sounded important. However, Bitters didn't care, as much as he'd like to. His head still hurt from being wacked over the head by that Mackenzie chick. He didn't need this right now. The other soldiers seemed the same. There were two female soldiers, one with yellow armor and the other orange. There were also three male soldiers. One green, one purple and one pink. The only soldier Bitters recognised in the room was Matthews. He was sitting by himself with that goofy grin on his face. Bitters only smirked.

Suddenly, the whispering of the soldiers quieted down as the door creeped open. Kimball walked in. Her hair was messy and there were bags under her eyes. _Well, that is not a good sign_. Bitters thought.

"Attention lietunents" Kimball called out. "And, uh, _captains_ " She smiled weakly at Bitters. Bitters only nodded in response. "I have some... _unfortunate_ news for you. Y'see, captain Simmons is... _dying_ " She barely got out. The room was filled with gasps.

"Oh no" The pink soldier covered his mouth. "That can't be..."

"You're... you're joking right?" The orange soldier questioned, hopeful.

Kimball shook her head at the lietunent which caused her to deflate. "No, i am not. However, there is a way to save him. We just need one of you to-"

"I'll do it m'am!" Matthews interrupted, standing up from his seat.

"Yeah, me too!" The purple soldier agreed doing the same. "We'll do anything!"

"Yeah" The yellow soldier grinned. "We owe everything to that soldier and-"

Kimball raised a hand to shush them. "It's not... _that_ simple" She said solemnly. "You see, to save Simmons, one of you needs to sacrifice your own life" Everyone sat back in their seats at that. "Please... i know this is terrible but... if any of you feel willing, stand up" The room stayed silent. Bitters caught a glimpse of Matthews hands shaking. He desperately looked around to see if anyone else was going to do it. He better not be doing what Bitters thought he was. Kimball sighed. "I figured this would happen" She began to walk away when the sound of someonerising from their seat made her turn.

"I-i'll do it m'am!" Bitters sat there, shocked. It was Matthews. "I'll do it. I am always willing to help this team anyway i can! I know that i might... _go._ But it's all worth it! This is the same man who helped Chorus come back to it's rightful place. The one that made my sister be able to walk around out of armor. He also makes my commanding officer very happy. I am r-ready to comply!"

Kimball walked up to Matthews slowly. She held his hands before giving him a long hug. "T-thank you _so_ much. Your sacrifice will _not_ go unappreciated" Matthews hugged her back. Bitters clenched her fists. Matthews was barely an adult and he was throwing his life away? Bitters was Matthews best friend, he couldn't let this happen.

"No" Bitters voice came off as cold and threatening.

Kimball and Matthews looked at him, concerned. "A-Antoine?" Matthews looked confused.

Bitters stomped towards them. "You are **way** too young to be doing _this._ You are not even twenty!"

"N-neither are you!" Matthews retorted.

Bitters ignored him and faced Kimball slowly. "Listen, Vanessa, nevermind him. Take me instead. This idiot has no idea what he is doing" He scolded. Kimball blinked. " _I said_ , kill **me** instead. Is it really that hard to ask for?" He was surprisingly dead serious. Kimball nodded before walking off silently. "You're welcome by the way!" He snarled at Matthews.

"W-why would you do that? What about Palomo?" Matthews glared.

"Charlie will be fine" Bitters stated, though he sounded unsure. Matthews faced him, tears strolling down his cheeks. "What's up your ass?" 

"I just... i can't believe you!" Matthews was actually furious. Enough to make Bitters back up. The soldier stomped off angrily, shutting the door behind him. Bitters could hear the soldier crying as he left. Angry and sad. Not a winning combination.

"I just saved your life..." Bitters said through gritted teeth. "You _should_ be thankful"


	15. Chapter 14, A Little Betrayal And Unknowing Trust

Bitters opened the door to his room slowly.

Palomo woke up quickly upon hearing the door open and sat up on the bed. "Hey Bitters!" He waved, smiling. Bitters felt a wave of guilt as he walked closer to the tanned man. He took a seat next to him and grinned weakly as Palomo pulled out his green laptop to look at what he had been earliar. "What did Kimball need you for?"

"I, um..." Bitters tried to tell him but the words seemed impossible to say out loud. So instead, he changed the subject. "Uh, what are you looking at?" He asked, pointing at his boyfriends laptop.

Palomo raised an eyebrow before doing that dumb goofy grin of his. "Just some cool superhero outfits. What do you think? I think i would look _awesome_ in that Iron Man one" He commented.

"I think you should be Hawkeye" Bitters joked.

Palomo furrowed his brows. "Comic book Hawkeye or movie-"

"I think we've known eachother long enough for you to know what one i'm referring to" Bitters smirked. Palomo chuckled lightly before nodding sheepishly. Bitters _should_ be happy. He usually was when his boyfriend acted like this. Yet, he just couldn't be. He couldn't shake off what he'd have to tell him. He realised that the only way for his pain to go away was to tell him now. "Um, Charlie..."

Palomo turned to face him. "Yeah Bitters?" He tilted his head to the side.

"I have some... _news_ for you. You might not like it" Bitters stated. Palomo blinked, intriqued. "Listen..." Bitters moved closer and held Palomos hands tightly. Palomo suddenly realised this was going to be serious and his smile faltered. "Listen, that meeting with Kimball. She wanted one of us to sacrifice ourselves. Matthews accepted and-"

"Oh no" Palomo covered his mouth in shock. Tears strolling down his cheeks.

"No, it's o-okay! I took his spot s-so that he wouldn't die!" Bitters interjected Palomo's worries. He expected Palomo's sadness to soften, but it just increased. "Charlie?" Before he could consider anything that was going on, he felt a sting on his cheeks. Sharp and quick. Palomo had just... _slapped_ him. "Charlie? Did you just..." Bitters felt the pain as it rushed to his face. There was even a little blood. Palomo really had hit him hard.

"What the fuck dude!?" Palomo screamed. "What were you even thinking!? _Were_ you even thinking!?! What about me!?!" He screeched. Bitters watched him, confused. "I get that... _that_..." Palomos voice softened quickly which allowed Bitters to take a quick breath. "You and Matthews... i know you guys are _friends_ but... did you even consider me?" Palomo questioned through his tears.

"I promise you, i  _did_ " Bitters comforted.

"AND YOU DIDN'T CHANGE YOUR MIND!?" Palomo retorted loudly.

Bitters stood up to try and make himself look more intimidating. Judging by the way it made Palomo shudder, Bitters instantly regretted it. "Listen Charlie... _please_. I was only doing the right thing. Matthews is too young to just kill himself off like that! What guy would i be if i allowed that? I'd be a total dick Charlie. Don't you get it?" He said angrily. Keeping his tone down to try and slip in the fact he wasn't really mad at Palomo.

Palomo stayed silent for a couple seconds. "When?"

Bitters eyes widened. "When wha-"

"When will you have to die?" Palomo interrupted, his voice down to a whisper.

"I _don't_... i don't know..." Bitters informed.

Palomo stood up and gazed at Bitters sternly. "You didn't even ask?"

"It was a rapid decision Charlie. I didn't think to ask questions!" Bitters explained himself.

"You are such an asshole!" Palomo crossed his arms. " _I just can't believe this..._ " He muttered.

"Matthews figured you'd react this way" Bitters mumbled.

Palomo flinched. "MATTHEWS!? HE WAS THE ONE WHO KNEW HOW I'D FEEL AND NOT YOU!?!" Palomo sounded enraged. "Wow. You are one _great_ boyfriend!" Palomo said sarcastically. "One _fucked_ up boyfriend, actually" He mockingly corrected. Bitters gave him a questioning glance as Palomo picked up his belongings and threw them into one of the boxes they had just unpacked.

"Charlie, what are you doing?" Bitters asked quietly.

"Going back to Smith's. There's no point in living here if you're going to be dead sometime soon" Palomo told flatly.

"You have got to be kidding me. Charlie, i'm _sorry_. I understand that i should have said something to you first but... you can't leave. Shouldn't we cherish what time we have left?" He was trying to sound romantic as he rested a hand on Palomo's shoulder. "Charlie, c'mon..."

"I would have let you, Antoine" Palomo stated, looking away. "I'm mad because you didn't even think about me. You just... _did it._ Without even considering..." The brunette clenched his fists. "... _me_ " Bitters swallowed hard. "I _love_ you Antoine but, i can't sleep here tonight. Tomorrow night i'll be back i j-just..." His eyes got more watery with every word. "I just need to think over some things" He said, walking out of the room. "Then we can say goodbye"

"Charlie..." Was all Bitters could muster as he watched his boyfriend walk out of the door.

\---

"Okay, so m'am... are you sure this will work?" Smith questioned.

Mackenzie nodded as she put on her cousins helmet. "Sure thing hun. They can't see through these kinds of visors after all. Just say Caboose... got out _early_ and was directed by Emily Grey to get some fresh air. Then, get me outside this _'butterfly'_ of a building and i'll be picked up by a ship. Then everything will be on the right track!" She assured. Smith stared at her awkwardly. "What is it hun?"

"It's just, m'am..." He began nervously. "What are you planning? Why are you working with Hargrove?" He said his concerns out loud with such panick that made Mackenzie wince. "Why won't you tell me about your past? Why did you let Felix go? Why did you-" He was shut up when Mackenzie took off Cabooses helmet and pulled him in for a long kiss. As she pulled away, Smith stammered. "M-m'am?"

"You will find out soon enough hun" She smiled shyly.

Suddenly, the door slammed open for the second time that day and Palomo entered. Mackenzie quickly put her cousins helmet back on. "H-hey Smith, is it okay if i stay here tonight? It's just... Captain Caboose?" Palomo tilted his head to the side. "I thought you were hurt?"

Mackenzie froze up. Smith moved infront of her instantly and gave a forced laugh. "C-Captain Caboose _was_ sick, Charles. You see uh, he got _better._ General Kimball has ordered me to take him out for a breath of fresh air. Good for the... _sickness,_ apparently" He stated. Palomo blinked before nodding slowly. "You'll be okay in here, alone? For just a little while?" He asked, examing the tears present on his face.

"Y-yeah... i'll be fine. If Caboose needs the fresh air he should get it now. Go ahead" He said sadly, moving out the way of the door.   
  
Smith and Mackenzie walked out the room, giving him small understanding nods as they left. Smith felt a rush of guilt. Mackenzie noticed and whispered into his ear. "It's okay hun. You can comfort him later. Let's just get out of here" She pressed on.

"Y-yes m'am" Smith agreed, sighing. "Like always, you are right"

Mackenzie stiffened at the compliment and shook her head. "I'm not always right, hun" She said solemnly. "You need to remember that when i do something... _questionable_ " She stated.

Smith thought for a moment. "Like, what you're doing now?"

"No, hun" Mackenzie smirked. "This isn't one of those times. Keep that in mind when you're having doubts" She smiled, giving him a small noogie as she ruffled his brown hair. "And trust me..." Her voice grew serious in a matter of seconds. "A lifetime with me requires those doubts. Some of them, you should _trust_ " She commented quietly.

Smith wondered what she meant, but he chose not to question it and walked on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment! :D


	16. Chapter 15, About Time

Church sighed. He sat back on his couch. The television full of static and inaudible words being all that could come through. With nothing else to do, the cobalt soldier couldn't help but grab the laptop from beside him. He opened it up and looked online. Chorus didn't have many available websites, but it was still fun to browse. He found one that was hosted by the lietunent's. He knew he wasn't allowed to enter it (considering it was strictly for lower level soldiers or mere citizens) but he still chose to open it up for view.

He groaned when a tab came up requesting a password. Church grabbed his phone. He knew that Caboose was allowed on there so maybe he could call him and- Church's thoughts faded quickly. Caboose was still recovering. He couldn't call him yet. Or, ever? The blue soldier _was_ taking a while. The nurses always needed Church to enter his mind and try to slow down the process which they wouldn't need to do if he was fine. He did recieve a shot through the head. Thats usually fatal. There was a chance that Caboose would...

Church shook his head and tried to clear any mentions of Caboose from his mind. He didn't need to think about this right now. No, he _NEVER_ needed to think about this. That was final.

"Don't think about... _him_. Just _don't_ " Church tried assuring himself. "You only considered him so you could enter this _probably shitty_ website. Theres gotta be someone else who could let you in. _Think, think, think_... who would..? Matthews!" When the realisation popped into his mind Church swiftly typed the number into his phone and instantly rang it. He pressed the phone onto his ear and waited. "C'mon Matthews... fucking pick up already!" Church growled.

"H-hey Epsilon!" He heard Matthews suddenly cut in. His voice wavy. It sounded like he had been crying.

Church tried to not let that bother him when he spoke. "For one Matthews, it's not Epsilon. It's Church" He reminded. Even though he couldn't see him, Church could almost imagine the other nod. "And two... do you know the password for the liet-"

'"Y-you're good with romance, right Ep-Church?" Matthews interrupted surprisingly.

Church held back a bitter laugh at the unexpected question. "Um, if by that you mean if i'm the only one whose had a relationship in the past seven years and kept it for the longest time then, yes?" God, did he really sound like that? Church didn't expect himself to sound that stupid. Granted, he was always unsure when it came to relationships. He always had Tex, but that was always a little... _unstable_.

"Oh thank goodness!" Matthews said, relieved. "Then can you give me some advice?"

"Uh, sure" Church hesitantly agreed. Only saying yes due to the fact he wanted to see where this was going.

"Well then..." Matthews took a deep breath. "Say that you liked someone, in that way" He began weakly. "And that you can't be with them because they are already with somebody else... but _THEN_ they do this whole sacrifice thing despite that significant other of theirs and it was all for you and you can't tell if they're doing it because they _like_ you or something else and... you may have yelled at them a little?" He gave off a very confused vibe. "What um, exactly would you do?"

Church stayed silent for a moment, absolutely dumbfounded. "Uh... thats really fucking specific Matthews"

"Y-yeah, i guess it is!" The private responded in a voice way too squeaky for this to just be a random scenario he came up with. It was the same voice Simmons used when talking about his feelings on Grif or women in general. The one that Grif called adorable as hell. The one that... they probably were _never_ going to hear again. Church stiffened at his own thoughts and couldn't speak for a while. "C-Church?"

"W-what? Oh right" Church snapped out of his daze and chose to clear his mind from all things Simmons for the time being. He decided to answer Matthews question as best as he could. "I'd just go over there and ask them what they meant. If it meant anything at all and that y'know... you _liked_ them. Because uh, you said sacrifice didn't you?" Church asked through his to-be speech.

"Yep" The private confirmed

"Well then just fucking tell them, dude. If they're not gonna be here anymore due to whatever this self-sacrifice shit is you kinda have to. Take your chance before you lose it forever. Say something. I mean, he might not know if you truly care about him, and just holds onto a stupid hope everyday..." Wait... what was he talking about? This really depended on the person Matthews was interested in. Matthews expressed kindness more openly then Church so... what was he talking about? "And know that if- that you haven't told him, he might die without ever knowing the truth that you're too much of an asshole to admit" Oh no. Church knew now what he was discussing. He wanted to stop himself, but the words just seemed to tumble out. "Even when your fucking exe-girlfriend tells you! You just-fuck, never accept it!? And Tucker tells you, Grif tells you and some stranger you hadn't meant tells you because they figured it out in like a week because its that fucking obvious to everyone around you!?!" Church clenched his fists. "That you love-" Church instinctively covered his mouth.

What the fuck was he saying? Caboose. _Him._ How he actually wanted to be with that idiot. How he lost his chance. How he- _no, this is stupid._ He tried to convince himself. He hated Caboose. Well, actually no. He had discovered that fact when he first arrived back at the canyon. _"-and my best friend Church"_ He remembered Caboose saying. Then, Tucker laughing before asking; _"Are you gonna let him call you that?"_

_'Caboose will still be my best friend anyway...'_

That is what he had first thought upon Tuckers question. Sure, he had tried to take it back from his mind later but... that was what he said originally. That was the truth. Still, he said best friend. Not like, lover or anything. He didn't love Caboose. He definitely couldn't imagine him and Caboose leaving the army and finding a house to live in together. Or even getting married. Or waking up to eachother in the morning. Maybe even adopting? He always wanted a son. Though, Caboose had stated once he'd like a daughter. Perhaps they could get twins. That way they _could-Ugh,_ what was he thinking? Whatever it was, he needed to erase it from his memory. Or maybe just store it for future reference? _No._ Just, _no_.

Or, yes?

He hated saying it, but all those options sounded just the tiniest bit appealing to him. With that being said, his mind was racing. He didn't really love Caboose, did he? He kept trying to deny it but the more he considered it the more he started liking the idea. Better reason to stop it, then. But he couldn't! Caboose was an idiot, he was stupid, he once set the kitchen on fire... trying to make Church bacon and eggs for breakfast. Goddammit! Uh, he trips over his own feet, he doesn't know basic math or english, he cuts himself when he uses scissors... which are always gifts for Church he seems to be _always_ making? Damn, Caboose did do a lot for Church.

Almost like he cared about him a lot. Like he loved him and- Church flinched and felt his head. He definitely was going to get a headache later on. Did Caboose like, _like_ him? _Oh, what the fuck, just the use the word_! Church scolded himself. Did Caboose... _love_ him? Suddenly, a realisation popped into Church's head and he felt himself stand up slowly from the shock.

 _"Cabby really cares about ya!" " You're his best as buzzy bee friends! He'd do anything for ya"_ Her face had gone stern and she had leant in, closer to Churchs face. He remembered being intimidated. " _Never take advantage of that..."_ She'd pulled her face away and regained her smile. " _Since' Cous likes ya so much if you ever need it a'll give you ma' signature advice_!" Church felt his heartbeat elevate. 'Since cous likes ya so much?' He repeated in his head. Oh god, Mackenzie knew about Cabooses feelings. She knew the whole time. Granted, she was his cousin. Caboose and her had spent so much time together she was bound to see the signs and recognise his feelings but...

Church was so confused. Maybe he's been confused for a long time. After all, it took him forever to realise he loved Caboo- _no, he didn't, he didn't, he didn't!_ Augh fuck. He was really starting to sound like a child. He took a deep breath. Then an ever bigger one. And yet another. He stayed silent for a couple seconds, his whole body shivering. He stared up at the ceiling, mouth agape. "Holy shit" He exclaimed. "I love Caboose!"

"You love CAPTAIN CABOOSE!?!" Matthews voice boomed from the phone.

Churchs eyes widened and he fumbled with the phone for a little while before finally speaking into it. "N-no! Shut up Matthews!" He could even hear the private pout at that. "Just-Mind telling me the lietunent's web browser password?" He sort of demanded, his anxiety boosting up to almost be on par with Simm-A FRIEND. No-one in particular... that may or may not be dying and- _shit_. He really was just making it worse with every fucked up second he took to dwell on it!

"Um... okay?" Matthews sounded extremely puzzled. Granted, Church would be too. "It's uh, C-O-O-L-2-9" He informed.

"Right" Church gave a quick, forced smirk to himself. "Well, uh, see ya later Matthews! Hope that relationshit-i mean, relationship shit gets sorted out. Bye, thanks! Whatever!" Church said loudly, awkwardly hanging up as fast as he could. Church moved from sitting on the couch to laying on it. He stared up, thoughts colliding with one eachother aswell as others suddenly making sense.

Church could feel his heart beating out of his chest. _I can't believe i love Caboose. He thought to himself._

__

_What are the odds that i would ever love Caboose?_

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, the callbacks!
> 
> Especially to early what are the odds. Remember how Mackenzie used to act? Oh, the cringe! :D Also, fun fact; this was initially meant to be a completely uneventful chapter. Yeah that didn't happen, did it? XD Next time, expect some Grif and a little Lopez. I'd say that's going to be uneventful but... well, let's just say i have something BIG planned. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment! :D


	17. Chapter 16, Operation; Little Rat Is Now Officially In Motion

York rubbed his eyes and left the comfort of his small room. He was tired. After all, he didn't get any sleep last night. He tried to pretend it wasn't because of Carolina, but he knew deep down, it was. Maybe it was also North. It happened... again. He saw him, he said he loved him, and then the blonde vanished soon after, without a single word. Seriously, York felt as though he got _no_ closure when it came to anything. Before he could head to the cafeteria and acquire some breakfast, he heard someone call out to him. _Tucker._

"York!? Dude!?" He heard the aqua soldier exclaim, running towards him quickly. "Check this out!" He stated, stopping infront of the gold soldier. York raised an eyebrow at him. He was about to ask what this was about, when out of nowhere a young girl stepped out from behind Tucker.

"Hello!" She gave a seemingly innocent smile.

"You would not believe what happened! So, i woke up, right?" Tucker began excitedly. "And i heard some alien thing call me father. I was like, Junior, is that yo-"

" _Junior_?" York questioned, obviously confused.

"Oh yeah" Tucker snapped his fingers. "My alien son"

York blinked. "Um, alie-"

"That's not the point!" Tucker pointed at him, cheeks reddening. "The point is, it wasn't him. It was her" He gestured to the girl. "Turns out, Junior had a kid! Apparently, hes kind of busy, and he wanted me to look after her. Her names Iris. Oh, _right_. Iris Tucker!" He informed proudly.

York chuckled lightly. "So, you're a grandfather now?"

"No!" Tucker retorted. "That just makes me sound fucking _old_. I'm like, twenty-six. Too young to be a grandpa. Besides, aliens age differently. Juniors nineteen right about now and i only gave birth to him about seven years ago" He told matter-of-factly.

"Hold on" York raised a hand. " _You_ gave birth?"

"Duh. Where do you think Junior came from?" He asked, acting as if the answer was obvious. York stared at him for a long while. Tucker groaned. "Ugh, who cares! Just look at her. Junior had a kid. Now, i get to look after her for a while. We can watch television, eat ice-cream, play Jenga" He actually sounded pretty happy about this.

York found that slightly out of character, so he pressed forward on the matter. "You act as if you _want_ a kid"

"Thats because I _do,_ dude! They can be like a mini-Tucker" He beamed, ruffling the young girls hair. She grinned at him in return. "And like i said, Junior aged mega-quickly. I got like, no father-son time at all. I mean, i was going to turn on the temple of procreation back when we could, but Kimball made us go back home instead. No party. Nothing. Fucking boo!"

"Did someone say my name Captain Tucker?" They turned around to see Kimball walking towards them.

"Augh, shit" Tucker looked down for a second before deciding to face her. "Yeah. Just complaining about how there was no-"

"Party? Tucker, need i remind you that you were the only one who wanted to. Everyone else wanted a break. We had a vote, remember?" Tucker pouted at her words. "Anyways, i actually had something to discuss with you, something important. I would like-" She paused as she noticed Iris standing beside Tucker. She gave her a questioning glance. "Who is this?"

"Iris Tucker. New member of the Tucker family" Tucker said confidently. " _Well, not like thats a proud name to have"_ He muttered quietly. "But, whatever" He spoke up again. "She's Juniors daughter. He's settled down. The women of the world will mourn today" He quipped.

Kimball knelt down to be at eye-contact with the child. The girl was oddly very short in stature. Most aliens would be twice as tall as she was at this age. However, why that was got answered quickly when Kimball noticed something particular. The girl had alien symbols all over her body and coloured hair. Kimball stood up and glanced over at Tucker. Gaze quizzical. "Tucker, you do realise she is part- _human_ right?"

"What?" Tuckers eyes widened. He looked down at the child. "Huh. Well what do you know! Junior got it on with a different species!? I mean, i'm not saying thats not my thing, _bow chika bow wow_ , but Junior must be really hitt'n it then" He smirked.

York winced at that. "Right..."

Kimball kept her eyes focused solely on the child. It was quite intimidating, causing Iris to step back. "I swear to you, that _no_ children have entered Chorus's borders recently... and being _half-alien_ **definitely** would have brought this to my attention. Don't you find it just a _little_ bit weird, that-"

"Excuse me m'am" Iris interrupted weakly, though the meek aspect appeared acted. "But you're the leader, right? Does that mean you can do cool flips and stuff?" She asked.

Kimball laughed slightly. "Well, um... unfortunately not" She answered. "Why?" 

"Because then, how did you get this position?" Iris asked quizzically.

"W-well, it all started when-" And then proceeded Kimball going into excited ramblings about training and her former bosses. Iris paying direct attention.

\---

_"You see, before me there was General Mercury. She was a tough woman. She, uh... well, we don't talk about what happened to her" Kimball said sadly. "It's honestly a sad story"_

_"But i wanna know!" Iris put her hands on her hips, frustrated._

_"Fine then. Just, don't get any nightmares or bad dreams about this. Capishe?"_

_"Capishe!" Iris saluted happily, giving a patient smile._

_"So..." Kimball began sternly. "We had been ordered to go to a peace meeting by the other army-"_

Delaware listened intently. After a while, she sat back and stopped listening. "Are you _sure_ this shit is important?" She sneered at Hargrove. "I get that she's our enemy, but out of all of them shes not much of a threat. I could take her out with three shots" She stated matter-of-factly, examining her gun as she made the estimates. "I think we should get the little rat to check on Carolina. Isn't _she_ the biggest asset they have?" She questioned.

Hargrove sighed. "It does not matter how important this is to _you,_ or to _me._ The recent soldiers that i have hired to help us say they want to know everything about these soldiers. That includes the generals" He informed.

"Recent soldiers?" Delaware raised an eye-brow. " _Who_?"

Hargrove stayed silent for a couple seconds. "Well, you might recognise a _few_ of them..."

Delaware didn't understand at first, but after letting the information sink in she realised and instantly scowled at him. " _More_ freelancers... _really_?" She snarled. As if on que, Neon appeared in miniture A.I. form beside Delaware, looking equally as puzzled.

"It might sound stupid but we need all the help we can get" He told her coldly. "And as much as i hate saying it, Leonard was skillfull at training you guys. The more freelancers we can get on our team, the better our odds" Neon seemed to get it and nodded weakly, vanishing just as quickly as she had appeared. Delaware presumed, to go and work on some calcuations for their missions. "You do understand the importance of that, don't you?" Hargrove inquired.

"Of course sir" Delaware hesitantly agreed. "But which ones?" Hargrove handed her a piece of paper. She read it aloud. "Let's see here... Agent Kansas, Agent California, Agent Vermont, Agent Kentucky, Agent Puerto Rico and finally, Agent New Hampshire" She cringed at the names and handed Hargrove back the letter.

He gave her a questioning glance. "Something you don't like?" He asked. Delaware lied and shook her head. "You are an exe-freelancer Delaware. It would be much easiar if you told me the problems with these soldiers. It would make it much nicer to work with them if we knew their weaknesses. Talk" He instructed harshly.

Delaware groaned and decided to explain herself. "To start, Kansas isn't the best fighter, he is only a good charmer. He was meant to manipulate people into giving him intel. Though, usually... he'd end up liking them back as friends. As for Vermont, she was a bitch. She was a pain to work with and an even bigger pain to be around. A lazy, good for nothing slacker that gave the project a bad as shit name. As for Hampshire?" She paused. "He didn't really do anything. Never even said a word to me. Other groups claimed he was quite talkative, but i never heard anything" She shrugged. "He was popular, though. Perhaps Carolina and Wash knew him?"

Hargrove ignored her last statement and pressed on. "And as for the others?" Hargrove leant in, intriqued.

"Never knew them. Either they were way down in the leaderboard or just never had the time to give a fuck and talk to me. Granted, i never presented myself as anything else but a bitch" She added homestly. "I wouldn't talk to me neither" Hargrove squinted at her, trying to see something in her that perhaps she herself, _couldn't._ "Any others?"

"One more, but he does not matter at the moment" He said flatly. "Atleast to you..."

And with that, he left the room. Neon appeared once more next to Delaware. Eyes revealing worry and concern. "Any idea who **he** , is?" Delaware hissed at her. Still not interested in showing the A.I. atleast a little kindness. The A.I. ( _Neon_... Delaware was still not caring enough to say it) didn't seem the tiniest bit taken aback by Delawares rudeness.

Instead, she frowned at her. "Nope!" Neon pouted, crossing her arms. "He won't even tell me, and i run the soldier statistics. He'll have to inform me eventually but for the time being i'm absolutely clueless" She grinned weakly, flickering away. Delaware looked disapointed, and decided to start listening again to Iris and the generals conversation. By the time she put it back up, the talk had just about ended.

\---

"I must say Captain Tucker, your son has raised _quite_ the curious child" Kimball smirked. Tucker nodded in agreement. "And as much as i would like to talk with her _more_..." She shared a genuine smile with the kid for a moment.p before turning back to Tucker, face dead serious. "There are a few things i would like to talk to you about" She stated.

He understood it was something important, so he gazed over at York and Iris. "Yo, York. Mind looking after Iris for a bit? Take her to the cafeteria for a snack or something..." Tucker requested. The gold solder gave him a thumbs up and before they knew it, took Iris away. Tucker gave Kimball a questioning glance. "What's the problem?"

Kimball took a deep breath. "A couple problems, actually. For starters your second has shown ever-growing signs of mental health issues. Talks of being without friends and feeling useless. It's getting extremely serious and i think you should have a talk with hi-"

"My... _second?"_ Tucker stammered.

"Sammy" Kimball informed.

"Never met him..." Tucker told weakly.

"You wouldn't have. When everyone was being introduced to you, he wasn't there. Too scared to even go" There was pity in her tone. Tucker took that in. "But, that's not the biggest... _complication_ " He looked up at her, face pained with fear. "I will inform you of one... _later_. You see, it is a bit too... _overwhelming_ , to just say here. But, i can tell you the last one. A ship just landed in Starburn and on it, were three freelancers and an exe-bounty hunter" Tuckers eyes widened. "You _may_ have heard of them?"

"Wait, what are their names?" Tucker tilted his head to the side, obviously confused.

"Arizona, Hawaii and..." Kimball sighed. "...North Dakota"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment! A LOT of foreshadowing in this chapter, can you find them all? :D


	18. Chapter 17, Intermission Or Exposition?

Delaware walked down the ships hallway.

It was extremely quiet. Granted, everyone on the ship was asleep aside from the pilots and probably Hargrove. Delaware usually was with them, though it appeared this time would be different. She sighed and made it to her room. As soon as she entered, she laid down on the bed. "Finally..." She groaned. "A fucking break" The relief in her voice was undoubtable.

"Oooh~ language!" She heard a voice chuckle, suddenly.

It took Delaware by surprise and she sat up, looking around. Nothing. "What the fuck?"

"There it is again!" She heard fake disapointment. "Quite a mouth on you, eh?" The voice chortled.

"Shut up" Delaware reached for her gun.

"Hey! No need to get violent on me!" It spoke again, almost sounding as if it was dying with laughter. "He _told_ me you'd act like this. That **pilot** too. Something about how you're _really_ mean. Always resorting to the harmful option. How _sad!_ Maybe we could  actually be friends if you didn't act that way..."

Delaware stood up, glaring. "Who the fuck said I was mean? What pilot do I even know?" She cleched her fists.

Unexpectedly, Neon appeared infront of Delaware. She had her hands raised in defeat. "Sorry about that" She apologised, sweating.

"Why are you bothering me, bitch?" Delaware furrowed her brows at the rainbow spotted A.I. like she normally did.

Neon merely rolled her eyes. "You're no fun! Besides, that _wasn't_ me. That was the new guy"

" _New guy?_ " Delaware raised an eyebrow.

"She means me!" Next to Neon, another A.I. appeared. This one being hazel brown with purple sparks rising from it like fire. It smiled at Delaware devilishly. Delaware instantly hated it. "And you're Rose. Oops, sorry! _Delaware_. Part of team B. Only second best. Not like i'm one to judge. Team C here!" He waved at her, grinning ear to ear.

Neon shrugged. "This is Zêta!" She introduced. "Respresentation? Pride!"

"The one and only" He ( _They_? _It_? It **sounded** male, so Delaware just decided to go with that in her mind) responded smugly.

Delaware was confused at first until the thought crossed her mind. _The new freelancers._ Though it would be weird, it wasn't entirely impossible one of them had gotten an A.I. from somewhere in the project. With that idea in her head, she spoke on it. "Who's?" She asked sternly.

"Agent New Hampshires" Zêta stated matter-of-factly. "Surprised?"

"Yes, i am" She furrowed her brows at the two. "For example, how many of you _shitty_ programmes do i have to deal with before we get this over and done with?"

"Three" Zêta told. "We're _actually_ quite useful by the way"

Delaware counted the number and noted it right away. "Three? But theres only... well..." She gestured to them.

Neon and Zêta shared a look before turning back towards her. Neon being the first one to speak. "He's a surprise for now. Don't worry though, you'll know in good time. Hes a real sweetheart!" She gushed. Almost as if she was remembering a compliment that had been given to her earliar. "But, i'm a taken women. N's got my heart. What about you Zêta? You going for him?"

Zêta paused. "Maybe. He is 'True Affection' so he would always be true to me" He winked. "But us A.I.'s don't need that kind of thing. You're an exception. You were technically human for a while. Well, if you consider possessing a rotten corpse being 'human' even when it's just disturbing" He poked out his tongue.

"Hey!" Neon crossed her arms. "I wasn't even the first to do that" She reminded. "Or the second"

"But the second according to my data wasn't a human corpse, and ' _omicron_ ' if i remember correctly was forcefully put into it for an experiment or because of his 50/50 percent betrayl estimation. Also, though it wasn't clear, the Alpha could have been forcefully placed to. That informations just blocked from our scanners" He informed, making Neons face redden.

"We're not allowed to mention Omicron, remember? Especially infront of her" Neon stated fearfully, pointing at Delaware. "Ever since the E.M.P."

"And we also aren't allowed to talk about Kappa, Ksi, Chi etc. alright?" He pouted, disapearing and appearing soon after much closer to Neon then before. "But who really cares? Only 89% of these soldiers do. I ran a test!" He said confidentally. "Besides, it's not like they're dead or anything. We could bring them back anytime. I have just enough storage to reconfigure Rho, actually. All we need is-"

"Nebraska said no" Neon interrupted coldly. "I am standing by his wishes!"

"Fine, Psi. Have it your way. Or Nebraskas way if you wanna keep being his puppet" He said, frustrated. Neon visibly deflated at that.

"I-it's Neon. Not Psi" Neon corrected.

"Thats not what your record says" Zêta shot back, disapearing with a flash.

Delaware having just witnessed this, gazed over at Neon curiously. "What were you guys talking about?" She questioned.

Neon flinched, having completely forgotten that Delaware was there. "Do you like keeping secrets?" She turned slowly to face Delaware. Delaware nodded weakly. "Well then... Rose, meet me tomorrow in the storage tank of the ship. We have something important to discuss. Just-please don't be a bitch" She requested, vanishing suddenly.

Delaware stood awkwardly, before laying back down. She thought for a moment. "No promises"  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some interesting information in this chapter... hope you were taking notes ;D
> 
> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment!


	19. Chapter 18, Nice To Meet You

"So, Sammy. I would like to introduce y-you to Private Lavernius Tucker" Kimball introduced, voice wavy as she motioned to Tucker. Sammy stood still. Tucker knew the feeling that was present in the teens eyes. Fear. It was weird. Tucker had never really made anyone feel that way. It was odd, seeing someone look at him with such a level of panic that it seemed like he could run away at any moment.

Well actually, Felix had a similair look too; when he was about to be blown off the temple to his supposed (well, what it seemed like at the time) death. But looking back on it, it was more shock and disbelief that he _could_ die than anything. Seeing the situation now, maybe it was right to feel that way. After all, he didn't die. Maybe he knew.

"Uh, yeah dude. What's up?" Tucker stammered out, realising he had been uncharacteristically quiet as he was left in his own thoughts.

"Hmm..." Iris, who had been sitting on Tuckers shoulders, suddenly jumped off without warning. Tucker stumbled slightly but got over it quickly. Then, Iris walked up to the teen and stared at him for a while. Her gaze looked like she was judging him heavily. Tucker raised an eyebrow at her antics, but before he could tell her this was not going to help the already _scared shitless_ kid, she offered her hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you! I'm Iris!"

"U-uh... h-hey there... i-i'm Sammy..." Sammy choked on his words.

Tucker couldn't help but feel pity for the kid. He looked about seventeen, and was still fumbling for his words around an eight- _twelve_? Fourteen year old, _maybe_? Now that he thought of it, Tucker didn't know Iris's age. Her brains suggested early teens, but her size made her seem under ten. Tucker soon dismissed it. He could ask her about that later. _This_ was now.

"So, you're my second aren't you?" Tucker grinned, hoping to calm the teens worries with a smile. It didn't seem to work. "You uh, well, um... what makes you think you're capable to be my second in command?" He asked him. Sammy froze on the spot. Kimball facepalmed. Iris gave a quiet laugh to herself. Looking back on it, that probably wasn't the best thing to say to what Tucker presumed was a shy introvert. Tucker soon realised his mistake and scolded himself inside his mind. _You idiot! Oh hey, super shy guy, i'm gonna put you on the spot and make you give reasons you're qualified. What a fucking great plan, Tucker!_

"W-well... i am a g-good shot" Sammy squeaked a certain way that could even make _Simmons_ jealous. Shit. Now Tucker was thinking of Simmons. This was going _great_.

Funnily enough, Church had said the other day when he was acting rather... _restless_ , that he thought of Simmons when Matthews or one of the other privates (Tucker wasn't really listening) sounded high pitched or something. Just knowing the correlation made Tucker desperately hope Simmons didn't die. If he did, he sure as hell didn't want the guy to be remembered by how squeaky his voice got when he was either flustered or scared, since thats how all the soldiers talked about him. After all, you could _barely_ see him in the photo with Hargrove thanking them for taking down Project Freelancer. _Thanks, Donut. Had to take the spotlight!_ Well, sort of. Tucker knew if Donut realised he was blocking Simmons then he would have moved. Slightly.

"T-Tucker, we don't have all day" Kimball reminded. "York can only be there with what he _claims_ are his friends for so long before i have to go and investigate. Y-you understand" She said quietly.

"Alright, alright. Jeez" Tucker rolled his eyes. However, he soon paused. "Um, are you okay?"

"I'm..." Kimball nervously avoided eye contact. "...fine" She assured.

Tucker didn't believe it one bit. "C'mon, tell me what's wrong?" He gave a weak smile, hearing a quiet muffled noise of pain. He supposed it was Kimball. These things can be hard to say, especially when you're trying to seem tough all the time.

Kimball sighed. "Bitters is going to die" She said sadly.

Tucker laughed. "Bitters? Why him specifically? You're being paranoid. I don't think out of _everyone_ that Felix could choose from, he would pick Bitters. Palomo maybe, but-"

"It's not that hes going to get killed. Hes _sacrificing_ himself, to help save your friends life!" She snapped, now pointing at Tucker. If she wasn't wearing her helmet, Tucker could have actually seen tears. Stern eyes that spoke of someone who had lost men before... and maybe just settling into a life where she wasn't anymore, when all of this happened and changed that.

If he _had_ seen that, Tucker probably would have spent more time on the matter before saying his next words. "Oh shit!" Tucker cursed. Kimball glared at him, turning away to where he was looking.

Her eyes widened. "Sammys gone!" She spoke, though it seemed like she knew it was going to happen sometime.

"Not him!" Tucker groaned. Kimball crossed her arms, making Tucker smile sheepishly. "Not saying thats any less important, just that... Iris is gone too" He pointed out. "Juniors gonna kill me" He mumbled.

"Suspicious" Kimball stated.

"Nah. I'm sure she just went to play a game or something" Tucker shook his head at her concern. "I'll go look for Iris, you look for Sammy" He ordered. Kimball nodded and they both went their seperate ways.

\---

Grif stared at the screen infront of him.

He lifted the remote and turned the television off. "Fuck. Me" He said coldly.

"Hey, Grif?" Grif turned to see that guy. _Mike_ , standing there, smiling at him with a nervous kind of happiness. "You okay?" He asked.

"No. No, i am not" Grif replied dismissively and began walking away.

"You can talk about it, if you want?" Mike offered. "I mean, i've got nothing else to do" He sighed. "Can't talk to Honey-Lemon because she is still in recovery. Diancie was acting weird when i saw her, and Cross and Leo were fucking" Grif snapped his head around to look at him. "Let's just say i never want to risk walking in on that... ever, again" Grif and him shared a silent chuckle.

"Those guys have been fighting the whole time i've seen them" Grif said quietly, a tiny bit of a ' _good mood_ ' in his words. "Is that really healthy?"

"Well, they were fine before the whole 'apple juice' incident..." Mike said matter-of-factly.

"Apple juice?" Grif cocked an eyebrow.

"A disagreement about who deserved it more. I forget who it belonged to originally" He admitted in response.

"Isn't that kind of petty?" Grif asked pitifully. "Fighting over fucking apple juice?"

"Well, i'm sure you've shared a few fights over stupid things, right?" Mike beamed awkwardly.

Grif smiled. _Oh, the truth in that_. He thought. "Hey. Wait..." Grif gave him a questioning glance. "Why are you out of recovery so fast? Everyone i know took quite a while" He informed.

Mike nodded. "Yeah, well... Kimball wanted me out for questions"

"About what?"

"Honey-Lemon, and why she was here? Carolina had told her who was meant to come before all this and therefore the general kind of figured we stowed her away" He trailed off. "They won't let me see her in hospital" He said solemnly. "Said i didn't deserve to"

"That doesn't sound like Kimball" Grif observed.

"It _wasn't_ her" Mike said, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and searching another one of his armor pockets for a lighter. 

"You smoke?" Grif blinked.

Mike hesitated to answer. "Well, uh... yes. When i'm stressed" He admitted tiredly. A moment passed as he uncomfortably kept on searching for a lighter. "Damn. Must've left it back home. If i knew Zachary, she probably found it and is using it right now" He muttered. "Just to spite me" He added, pouting.

"Zachary?" Grif started laughing. "Thats the one i punched!"

"You punched her?" Mike tilted his head to the side. "Huh. _G-good_... good arm" He gave a thumbs up. "We all thought it was Mackenzie" He stated honestly. "Now i kinda feel bad..." He anxiously scratched the back of his neck. _Might need to apologise to her later, if i can find her. Haven't seen her around actually. Wonder where she-_

"Speaking of her, how much do you guys even know about her?" Grif questioned. Mike gave him a rather quizzical look, atleast that was how Grif would explain it. "Just asking, man" He shrugged. Mike thought about telling him how Mackenzie built this place and how she had shared stories about it but... he chose not to. Something told him she wouldn't like that. "So, Leo and Cross..? They're together now?" Grif brought up. 

"I'd like to say yes" Mike sighed. "But if i asked, they probably would reply with a maybe"

Grif rolled his eyes. "Ha. They seem like they never change"

"They have their moments" Mike subtly defended. "When Leo got a robot leg for example in an explosion-y thingy. Now, hes kinda like a cyborg. Cross tried to help, but... well, to put it lightly that changed things" Grif couldn't help but see the similarities in that with him and Simmons... _transformations_. God, those freelancers did have some pretty fucked up scenarios didn't they? "Uh, anyways..." Mike spoke up again. "Cross was worried sick. All because Dani... uh... some soldier mowed them down. Pretty horrible story, really" He took a deep breath. "Honey-Lemon tried to help. We all did"

"You guys seem like good friends" Grif commented. There was a nice silence between the two. "And hey, if you're still looking for a lighter..." He threw one over at Mike. He caught it flawlessly and smiled. "You can borrow mine"

"Heh, thanks"

Grif couldn't help but nod back at him. _Man, maybe these newcomers aren't so shitty after all._


	20. Chapter 19, Downfall

"You're alive?" York couldn't help but smile.

He never expected to see North again. Ever. This didn't make any sense! Still, York was ecstatic. Especially considering it wasn't just North, but there were others aswell. Hawaii? Arizona? It amazed him. The name Denmark didn't ring a bell though. After all, it wasn't a state. Either way, it didn't change his mood. He charged at North and gave him a big hug, patting him on the back.

"Yeah. Yeah, i am" There was confusion in Norths tone as he began hugging York back. York pretended it didn't bother him.

"Hold on. Agent _fucking_ York!?" Arizona jumped inbetween the two. "This _can't_ be you!" She informed matter-of-factly. "Like, at all!" She felt like she needed to add. York gave a sheepish smile. This was going to be hard to explain.

He took a deep breath. "Well, you see, when Carolina-"

"No. _You_ don't get to speak!" Arizona scolded. "You aren't meant to be here!" She told, resting her hands on her hips. "You must be an imposter. No, you _have_ to be. York can't be here, that's not what the map said and thats state of the art technology" She said, looking over at Denmark sternly. "Unless-"

"Hey. That map _is_ state of the art, okay? I should know. I'm one of the people that built it" He assured.

Arizona snorted. "The fact that _you're_ one of the people that built it doesn't ease me" She mumbled, snickering slightly. "After all, even the rest of those guys seemed pretty dumb. Wouldn't surprise me if you guys messed up on _something_ " She chuckled lightly.

"Huh" Denmark blinked. " _Dumb_?" He repeated, eyes widening. "Hehe, figured you felt that way about my friends. Y'know, considering you killed them" He said flatly.

A chilling silence took over the atmosphere and Hawaii, who had been rather quiet, gave a weak grin. She put an arm around Denmark. "Oh, Denmark. T-that's all in the past! You agreed to that, didn't y-you?" She asked nervously. Denmark grumbled and pushed her off of him. He began walking away. "Hey Denmark, don't go! Do you have a joke for us? We'd love to listen!" Hawaii called out after him, desperately hoping for a reply. "...Denmark?"

Denmark finally gave her a quick glance and sighed. "I'm just gonna ask some soldiers when they're gonna be done investigating our-well, _my_  ship. That's all" He urged, walking away. When he was out of earshot, he bitterly added; " _And only **they** actually liked my jokes, anyway_ "

Hawaii looked down at the ground, sadly. "Do you think he'll be okay?" She asked, looking up at North.

"Uh, yeah" North lied. "Sure"

Arizona avoided eye contact and instead stared off into nothing. "So, ' _York_ ' mind taking off your helmet?" She ordered quietly. Her voice was usually much more demanding, or at the least quirky, but this was much more dark and muffled. York would feel _bad_ if he didn't comply to the weak demand, so he pulled off his helmet and watched them stare.

North went to touch his cheek, but it went straight through. "W-what? Thats his face..." He said to the others. "But hes see through, i can't touch him, i don't- what even..?" He fumbled for his words.

"Ha. Of course" Arizona rolled her eyes, seemingly forgetting about the moment that had conspired with Denmark previously. "He's an A.I. based off of York" She realised, now adorning a confident smile. "Knew the real one was on Earth" She took a breath of relief. "So looks like the plan stays the same. Gather equipment, then continue our voyage to earth!" She grinned over at North. "Looks like we don't have to go over things again. That was such a nightmare last time, wasn't it?"

North tensed up when she addressed him and smiled awkwardly. "Yeah. Total... nightmare?"

Hawaii raised an eyebrow at him. "You okay North?" She rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Sure, sure. It's just... why would an A.I. of York even exist here?" He asked them. Hawaii shrugged in response. After that, they began a conversation.

York tried to hear what they were saying, but his mind was full of static. The real him was _alive_? Did... did they just say that? He couldn't quite remember. It was really hard to concentrate now for some reason. He gathered that was because of how they were looking at him. They were looking at him like he was a robot. A lie of a human being. Not York. Which was _true_ , but... well, he didn't like it.

Every once in a while after a sentence, they'd do it again. Look at him. Tiny fleeting glances of confusion and shock. As if he was wrong to exist. He hated it. He wanted them to stop. York had never felt anxiety before, but... well, of course he hadn't. He wasn't York, as these guys felt so _comfortable_ about stating. He expected better from North. Well, _York_ would.

He didn't know what the _fuck_ to feel about him now.

After a while, he grew tired of it. They were still talking. _Still_ giving him those short glances which they were blissfully aware of, meant _so_  much. He hadn't expected this. He expected kindness. To be hugged by North, maybe even kissed. To play darts with Arizona like old times or crack jokes with Hawaii. His memories.

Well, _Yorks_ memories. Not his.

"In all seriousness, _you_ are wrong" Arizona said, pointing over at him. Finally inviting him back into the conversation but not in a way he would have wanted. "What do you think we should do?" She asked her friends. "He obviously belongs to these soldiers, so should we report them... i mean, this has to be violating some law, right?" She questioned.

York glared at her. ' _Belongs to these soldiers_?'. Did she think he was like... a robot assistant? A machine simply created to do tasks? Nothing else? Even if not, thats how he _perceived_ what she meant. He clenched his fists. "Hey, wait. I'm not-"

"Hang on, pal" Hawaii smiled at him. "Just let us think for a moment and then you can help us with... our bags or something?" She looked over at Arizona for confirmation. Arizona nodded at her. "Okay, good. Um, let's see..." Hawaii looked deep in thought. "Well, we shouldn't report them. Thats just mean. Especially considering they're giving us supplies"

"No. You shouldn't report them because-"

"Cut it, okay? We'll be with you in a moment!" Arizona snapped. York frowned as he was cut off again. "And _no,_ Hawaii. We _should_ report them. This is just weird. What do you think, North?" She said to the purple soldier, who was shaking in place.

"Uh... well..." He stared at 'York' for a long moment.

York felt his eyes go teary. "North?" It was that look again... even worse this time. He was looking at him like he was a freak of nature. It worried him. He hated it. Yet, the look wouldn't stop. It wouldn't. Yorks heartbeat elevated and he felt his color turn red. He had been gold previously, to reflect his armor color, but now the code inside of him was getting angry. He was changing to a red, bloody crimson. It would only take one more thing to set him off.

"You know what?" Arizona threw her arms into the air. "Fuck it. We'll talk about it later" She said, now looking over at York. She noted the color change, but paid it no mind. "Okay, you can get our bags now. Or like, interview us. Whatever you were made for" She rolled her eyes.

And that was it. What set him off.

"For the last fucking time!" York furrowed his brows at her, now being consumed with rage. He felt his body grow bigger as he stared down at them. They looked up at him with pure fear. "I AM NOT A ROBOT BUILT TO GIVE YOU FAVORS! I. AM. YORK" After the words escaped his lips, he felt himself shrink down to normal size. "W-well... not really, but..." He sighed. "York wouldn't do this" He said, still anaylising their scared faces. He began to walk away slowly. Hoping maybe one of them would run after him. North, maybe?

But he _didn't._

Because he wasn't York.

\---

"Um, Diancie? Would you mean explaining something for me please?" Doctor Grey asked.

Diancie stared at her for a long moment before smiling confidentally. She laid back in her hospital bed with her arms behind her head, working as a pillow. Sure, she already had a pillow, but she figured it made her look cooler. "What do you wanna know?" Diancie questioned, grinning. "About my cool, amazing feats? Because trust me! There are plenty!" She boasted.

"No" Grey shook her head. "Regarding _this_..." She pulled up a tablet. It showed electronic waves crashing up and down without warning. "What can you tell me about _this_? 

"Uh, it looks chaotic... i guess?" Diancie cocked an eyebrow. "Why are you asking me? Isn't there someone better? Like that Church fellow! He could scan it, right?"

"Well, _yes_. But he's busy in Caboose's mind at the moment. I don't know what hes doing in there, though. This is the first time the soldier has been in a pretty stable position after all" She commented to herself. However, Grey quickly shook her head and sighed. "No, Ms. Seattle. Unfortunately, i'm showing this to you because this is what is going on inside your head" She informed. Diancie flinched. "Electronic works buzzing around in _your_ **head.** Any idea what that could even be?"

"Well, of course. The A.I. incident" She shrugged it off.  "The one me and Daniel got caught in"

"The... what?" Grey stared at her with confusion. "Um, can you please explain what that was? I only know the Blood Gulch backstories, sweetie. Not Blood Valleys. Do tell" She instructed.

Diancie groaned. "Well, there was an explosion. Leo and Cross got caught in it so Zachary went to help them. I, however, saw Daniel; the cause of the explosion, run off into a cave. Being the brave soldier i am, i decided to investigate to stop that dirty blue from doing anything!" She smirked.

"Dirty blue?" Grey tilted her head to the side. "You know, you remind me of someone actually..."

A silence passed. "Who?" Diancie raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, it's... not important" Grey told. "He's not here anyway"

"Oh" Diancie bit her lip. "Well, uh, anyways, when i entered the cave Daniel was talking to himself. I accidentally and by that i mean _i-totally-meant-to-do-it_ , stepped on a stick and he turned around. His eyes were four colors. One, i recognised as his. Green. The other three were magenta, orange and indigo. Suddenly, as i noticed this, he pounced" Diancie made a dramatic gasp. "He pinned me down and started saying 'oh, you really want me to stop them killing them? Then how about i lighten the load' and, well..." She sighed. "His eyes were just green and magenta. He said he was sorry, started crying and ran off. I went back to red base and noted that my eyes were two other colors. They disapeared though, so i figured it was fine. Ever since then though, i have heard voices..." She admitted solemnly.

"Ah..." Grey didn't know how quite to respond to this. "Anyone else know?"

"Of course. Diancie would never lie" Diancie assured her.

"Yes, that is good of you but- hold on, ' _Diancie would never lie'_?" Grey blinked. "Oh, yes. You speak in third person, don't you? Now i remember!" She smiled. "But, why weren't you talking like that _before_?"

"I guess Diancie kinda... forgot" She nervously chuckled.

Grey eyed her suspiciously before writing something down on her notepad. She walked over to the door and turned the knob. "Well, i will see you later? To discuss this more. I don't think you are aware of how serious this is" She informed cautiously.

"Hmm?" Diancie stared at her.

_Of course she wouldn't. Shes an idiot._

_Now, don't be so rude!_

_I am not._

_Yes you are!_

_No, i am no-_

"Oh, shut up!" Diancie scolded angrily.

"What?" Grey glared at the redhead.

Diancie raised her hands awkwardly. "Oh, no. Diancie was not talking to you. Rest assured" She gave a weak smile.

"Right" Grey clenched her teeth and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Diancie sighed. "You guys certainly are not making Diancie any more popular, i swear..." She mumbled.

_Like you were ever going to be, anyway._

"I could be" Diancie shot back.

_Oh, really? How?_

...

Diancie thought for a moment. "Without you"

\---

Leo and Cross walked down the hallways together.

"That was... _nice_ " Cross said weakly. Leo nodded back at him. They were dead silent. "You... _you_ were good" He complimented. Leo nodded again. "Was i good, too?" Leo nodded once more, making Cross get antsy. "Uh, should we have done that?" Leo kept nodding. "Ya really think?" The nodding continued and Cross crossed his arms. "Okay, could you do something other then fucking nodding? Its making me get irritated!" He said, annoyed.

Leo glared. "Hey! The only reason i'm-AAAAAAUGH!!!" Leo felt himself slip and fall into a cold, wet substance on the floor. He grumbled. "What the fuck?"

"Ha! Karma" Cross laughed. "Thats what you get. You slipped on water!" He sang, doing a little dance. Not really paying attention to Leos place on the floor. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been dancing. A long silence passed. "Uh, Leo? You okay?" He looked down finally and saw Leo on his knees, shaking.

"Cross... w-water can't be red... c-can it?" He responded, stuttering.

"Don't think so. Why-HOLY SHIT!?" He jumped and instantly helped pull Leo out of the liquid on the floor, making wure he didn't slip himself. He wiped some of it off of Leos face and stared down at it fearfully. "Is that... are we seeing things? I fucking hope-"

"-we're seeing things!" Leo finished for him. They both backtracked away from it.

It was _blood_.

"Whose is it?" Leo asked. He didn't dare open his eyes. One, because he was scared. The other because some of the liquid had gotten in his eye and hurt. He knew what it was. He didn't want to see though. It made him jumpy. It made him scared. Cross understood that, and decided not to bother him about it and instead do his best to find the answer by looking around.

"A guy in aqua armor..." He answered.

"Tucker?" Leo flinched.

"No. It's a lighter aqua. It's got a nametag... i can check?" He said, beginning to walk away. Leo grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. "I'll be back, dude. C'mon..." He urged quietly. Leo let go hesitantly. "Good. Or else i'll take your next apple juice" He chuckled. Leo merely furrowed his brows at him. "Wow. Struck a nerve, huh?" He rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the beating heart inside his chest. He knelt down and inspected it. "It's a... _Sammy_ " He informed.

"A who?" Leo called out, wiping the blood from his eyes.

"A Sammy!!" Cross called out again, trying to inspect the armor further for a clue as to what happened.

Leo groaned, crossing his arms. "I still can't hear you, assho-AAAAAAAAAGH!!"

Cross snapped his head around to see nothing. He stood up quickly and felt his breathing heighten. Leo _wasn't_ there. "Leo!? LEO! This ain't funny" He said angrily, as he stomped down the hallway to where Leo had been just a few seconds ago. "Dude!? Shit, shit, shit. I knew i shouldn't have been not looking at him. Why did i inspect the fucking body anyways?" He began cursing to himself. "I'm not sherlock holmes! Ugh, this is how it always ends in horror movies! LEO!?"

"CROSS!?! OVER HERE!?! IT'S A FUCKING TE-" Leo was cut off.

Cross hoped not by death as he ran to where the noise had come from. He opened a door and saw him. He took a deep breath. "Never. Do. That. Again" Cross scolded, walking up to him. Leo shook his head slowly at him. "What? Why are you doing that?" He asked.

"Dude, behind you" Was all Leo said, voice wavy.

Cross turned around slowly. "Oh, shit"

And thats when it all went black.


	21. Chapter Twenty; Accusé

“So, Simmons is a cyborg as well?” Mike asked, confused.

Him and Grif were sitting next to each other on the couch in Grif’s room. It was comfortable in the literal sense, but it wasn’t exactly _familiar_ to Mike… so it just felt off. He wasn’t going to say anything though. He was just thankful for the hospitality.

“Yup” Grif gave a small nod. “Though, I think it was worse then what Leo got” He added quickly.

Mike raised an eyebrow at him. “What makes you say that?” He questioned. Grif gave him a quick glare. It was at that moment Mike realised he had sounded a little rude, so he decided to backtrack a little. “N-no offence, just… it was pretty hard for Leo, and…” _And Cross_ , his mind wanted to add. However, he stopped himself. Cross didn’t like them talking about his reaction to the incident. Considering how involved blue team was with the event, Mike decided to respect his wishes. “And… _all_ of us. Just-please explain, okay?”

Grif seemed to understand. He sighed and began his reasoning. “Leo just got it on his leg, dude. Simmons had half his face, some of his torso, a whole leg and foot… heck, even parts of his brain, _changed_. If anything, Leo got more of a prosthetic leg. Simmons got like a whole new body” He said solemnly. “And sometimes? Sometimes I find him crying in front of the mirror and punching it. ‘Cause he is ashamed of himself, and… and I don't think I can do anything to change his mind about that…”

There was a long silence. Mike felt himself tense up. “Did… did you try?”

Grif stared at him. “ _What_?”

“You said you ‘think’ not that you ‘know’” Mike said matter-of-factly. “Just makes me wonder if you’ve tried at all..?” He admitted cautiously. To his surprise, Grif didn’t respond. He just stayed silent at the accusation. Mike felt guilty about it, but he believed that was because it was true. “Y’know…” Mike took a deep breath. “If you try to talk to him about it, maybe you could change his mind. Then you won’t have to worry-”

“I’m not worried” Grif interrupted coldly. He sounded less laid-back then usual and more stern and angry. It made Mike shudder. “He’s _fine_ ” Grif said flatly, like what had been previously discussed hadn’t mattered at all. That was far from the case.

Still, granted his expression, Mike felt it was best to agree. “R-right”

They stayed quiet for a while before Grif spoke up again.

“So, I heard Mackenzie’s turned on us?” Grif said, almost like he was interrogating him. Mike hoped it wouldn’t be going that way. His anxiety has been piling up as it was with what had been going on lately. “Did she ever show any signs of being evil beforehand? Had she ever been?” Okay, it _was_ going that way then. Mike gulped.

“No, not really. She was really kind and nice to us. Never mean. Never rude. Never evil…” He protested quietly, going to feel his arm. He traced the scar that was there with his fingers nervously. Why did Grif have to bring that up? He got it was a shock that Mackenzie left and him being friends with her did incriminate him, but… it just hurt to think about it. The bullet hole that had dried and left a scar there was now feeling so fresh and vivid. The old memory new as ever. He just preyed Grif would shut up and-

“If she was always nice, then why do you feel that scar on your arm whenever I ask you about her?” Grif asked dryly. Mike froze. Had he been doing that? He hoped not. “Did she cause it?” Grif seemed intent on digging for answers. Mike didn’t understand that, frankly. He thought Grif was the lazy one! Not the investigator or whatever. This was setting him off real bad.

Now his head was spinning. He couldn’t stay like this. He stood up speedily. “I’m gonna… go. I don’t think i’ve seen Diancie yet. Maybe Leo and Cross have stopped there… fun… and I can go check on them… y’know? Friends should be there for each other and all that” Mike said, taking a few steps towards the door. Grif was not buying it; that was obvious. Realising this, Mike quickened his steps until he was at the door. He felt the door knob in his grasp like a key to freedom. He gave a weak smile and faced the door. “Haven’t eaten either, yeah? You get how bad that is. You do like to eat, right? That was one of your traits… wasn’t it?” His breathing was elevating by the minute. He. Needed. To. Leave.

He opened the door and took one step out before he felt himself pulled back in by his arm. Ironically or not, it was the same one with the scar. Heck, Grif was even touching it as he clung to his arm so tightly. It was funny. The scar was so old and basically unnoticeable most of the time, but whenever the fact of its existence was brought up it felt painful… it made Mike hurt inside.

“Listen, Mike…” Grif sounded not angry, but pleading. Not little kid pleading or anything, just… _strongly_ pleading. If that even made any sense, Mike didn’t know. “If you know anything about Mackenzie, Nebraska… heck, even Hargrove… you need to tell me” He informed. “Those assholes hurt Simmons. I wanna find a way to hurt them” He said through gritted teeth.

Mike felt the threat like it was meant to be his. It wasn’t, clearly. But, if Grif knew he was hiding quite a lot about his friends pasts, perhaps it would be for him. That thought alone scared him more then anything. Still, he kept his silence. Staring into Grif's eyes like he had nothing to hide. He couldn’t-wouldn’t! Break a promise he shared with his friends. Ever.

A promise is a promise.

He knew that. He respected that. His mother had told him about promises when he was little… it was after he had told his mum one of his friends secrets. He expected her to laugh or chuckle, but she didn’t. She just asked him: _'Mikey, did your friend ask you to keep that a secret_?' He remembered how disappointed she’d sounded.

' _Um… yeah_?' Mike had replied.

 _'Well, you need to keep promises. They’re important to people. If you break a promise, you break a friendship'_ She’d told him, voice strong as it always was. God, did he miss her. She was always so wise and knew just what to do. The only time she didn’t know what to do was when he was drafted, but… well, she tried. She tried her hardest.

Because that was important, also.

To try.

Mike always tried his hardest. It didn’t always end well. Tucker thought when he was flirting with Carolina it was to get her in the sheets. He found that insulting, but he didn’t say anything. Mike was just trying to make fun small talk. Maybe to build on something. A friendship or relationship, maybe? He wished relationship. Mike was a sucker for romance. Not the kind Tucker was interested in though. Like, actual romance. True love. Man, did that sound cheesy. He could be a Disney princess if he wanted to!

Yet, it didn’t matter. If it built on a friendship, that was fine. He had great friends. He protected them. He looked out for them. They looked out for him, too. Most of the time, anyways.

He caught himself eyeing the scar again. He couldn’t see it through Grif's grip, but he felt like he could. It was just too unforgettable. Speaking of which, Grif was still there. He wasn’t giving up easily. He was hoping Mike would cave in. Tell Grif everything that he knew. But, he wouldn’t. He had to stay strong for them. For his friends. For Mackenzie. For Nebraska…

Honestly, it stung when Grif mentioned him. Nebra- No, Jay… was a good guy. He just got confused sometimes. He was confused. That was it. Jay was a great friend and an excellent teammate. Neon too. Did Grif really think Jay was a villain? Sure, he’d known him for like a month, but would he even trust Mike if he said he wasn’t one? Even considering the fact that Mike had known Jay for years? Same with the others in Blood Valley too.

These red and blue soldiers always seemed to think Mike and his gang had just… let go, of Jay and Neon. As if they were unimportant. That wasn’t true. Though Mike had played it off like he was fine when Jay wasn’t responding to his pleas, deep inside he was burning.

He had cried that night. Not like he would ever admit it.

Oh, what would his mum say if she were here?

_'Oh, Mike Elizabeth Marchand! You need to stop crying and stay strong for everyone! That's what my petit garçon doux would do. Now, who wants some des chocolats?'_

That was accurate, Mike thought. Of course, that was discarding the last statement on sweets. This _was_ a war zone after all. Did foreign planets even have cocoa beans? Presumably not.

He was getting lost in his brain again. When he came to, he noted that Grif was no longer holding his arm. The scar was visible now, in all its chilling glory. He realised that he had just been standing there. Grif was in front of him and he looked... defeated _. He knows_. Mike stiffened. _He knows that I’m hiding it all_.

With all of his fears returning, he finally left the room in a rush. He scampered down the hallways before stopping in a sweaty, tired mess. He leant against a wall, panting heavily. He heard light footsteps but chose to ignore them. They were too light to be Grif's and to him that's the only thing that mattered. But then again, they seemed to be too light to be a regular soldiers either. He raised an eyebrow and turned around to see a small girl.

She grinned at him devilishly. “Hello, i’m Iris. Who are you?”

A little girl? Mike was definitely shocked. These people were weird, but were they let's-hire-a-small-girl weird? Probably not. Something about her seemed off to him anyways. Was it her eyes? Size? Just being there too begin with? Far too many choices for him to decipher. Then he caught it. A knife. A blood. Stained. Knife. In her hands, right then and there.

He was not doing this.

With the pass of a second, Mike ran off at the speed of light and she-She was chasing him. The adrenaline was pumping now. As he ran down the halls, he noticed a door. Perhaps it had a lock? Just the idea of protection had him sprinting even faster. When he made it, he took another glance back to see her right behind him. He jumped through the door and saw Tucker, Kimball and some other lieutenants staring him down. He took a breath of relief. These guys were heroes. They could save him.

“Thank god. You have to believe me. This little girl was chasing me with a knife! She had blood on it and I was so scared, but now that you’re all here we can-“

“Dude, you mean my granddaughter? The one behind you with no blood and no knife?” Tucker commented dryly, a glare forming. Mike froze. He turned around. There she was. Completely fine, everything okay, no knife, no blood, no nothing. Was he hallucinating? But it had seemed so real… well, the general would understand; he supposed. Stress did things to peoples minds. Surely they had a doctor who could vouch for that.

But before he could bring that up, Kimball began to speak. “So, Iris, is this the man you saw hurt Sammy? And the others?” She asked coldly. Iris nodded shyly, seeming far less intimidating with her current pose. She just looked like a scared little girl and Mike-wait, what did the general just say? ….Sammy? Who was he? Well, he was killed apparently but… hold on, the little girl had nodded. The question was-Oh no.

He felt himself grabbed by the shoulders by two individual soldiers. Both exceedingly tall. He always felt short, but this was just rubbing it in. His heart was racing. He couldn’t breathe. “N-no! It wasn’t me! I swear on it. Promise, promise, promise” His words didn’t seem to be convincing them. He was being dragged away. “Wait, hold on, come on guys! Ask Diancie, Honey-Lemon, Mac- I mean, t-they’ll say I'm a good guy! Let go of m-me, I have someone who can vouch I swear! Just let me-“

“You’ve said enough” A soldier in the back spoke. His voice was dark and gloomy. Upon hearing it, Tucker looked shocked. Before Mike could find out why he was out of the room and down the hallways. Probably to the cells, he figured. Every time he’d open his mouth to defend himself further to the guards, it would disappear into a ball of anxiety and confusion.

What had just happened? He found himself asking. Not to others, just himself. He was too weak to sleep. He felt himself be tossed into a cell. He heard the guards talking. One had a needle in his hand. Mike tried to be silent. He wanted to know what they were saying. Some explanation would help him, surely.

“So…” The first one began, sounding scared. “W-why do we have to use this on him? What did he do?” He asked, waving the needle around anxiously. Mike felt himself shake. He was always scared of needles, ever since he was young. _‘They are fine Mikey. Sois calme. They will keep you safe from viruses_ ’ his mothers advice stayed in his mind. It didn’t help. Why would it? These guys weren’t doctors, they were soldiers. And according to what they had said, the needles weren’t to protect him from anything. They were to silence him.

“Did…” The other soldier speaking caught Mikes attention again. “Did you not see the crimes? I-it was messed up. They found J-Jen in the ventilation system, just dangling there. D-dangling! And Alice? In a horrific pose like a d-doll. I won't even say anything about Morris” Her voice was wobbly. Of course it would be. Those deaths sounded horrible.

And here Mike was… being accounted for them.

“There were only four survivors. Three of them in c-critical condition” She informed. “T-they were done up pretty bad” She shuddered, receiving the other putting a hand on her shoulder as a sign of comfort.

“Who were the survivors?” The other one asked timidly.

“Cory, Cross, Josh and Leo” They replied sharply.

Mike felt a shiver go down his spine. Cross and Leo? His friends… what had happened to them? Good thing they were okay, but… they were hurt. Critical maybe. Three out of four meant at least one of them was in that condition. Just the thought scared him. “N-no…” He choked out.

Though his voice was muffled (obviously weak) the guards still turned around like he was about to pull something out from his sleeve. Without warning, the one with the needle turned to the other and nodded. “Can’t waste any more time” He said sternly. And with that, Mikes vision went blurry. He felt a pain in his side. The needle, he realised. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

Soon, he couldn’t see. He was unconscious. Yet, still…

He was still scared. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment! 
> 
> -FanficNinja


	22. Chapter Twenty-One, Chilling Talk

Smith and Mackenzie stood outside together in the cold.

It was snowing lightly, and Smith kept trying to hold back his questions. He wanted to ask Mackenzie so many of them but chose not to. However, even if he did, she probably wouldn't want to answer any of them anyways. As the minutes kept passing, his thoughts went off to different things. Mainly Palomo. Why had he been so... sad? It looked like he had been crying, and it legitimately hurt Smith inside that he'd just left him like that.

Palomo was one of Smith's best friends after all.

He supposed Mackenzie had sensed his uneasiness because she finally decided to speak up. "You'll be back to comfort your friend soon enough" She smiled. "They shouldn't be any longer" She finished her sentence with an annoyed tone. Due to that fact, Smith gathered that whatever was meant to be happening was meant to have already happened. No wonder they had been out for so long.

Suddenly, he realised something. He turned to face Mackenzie slowly. He raised an eyebrow at her. "How did you know i was thinking about Palomo?" He asked her, confused.

Mackenzie didn't even look at him. She just gave a quiet chuckle. "Ah, Palomo. So that's his name? Kinda surprised i didn't remember…" She said quietly. There was a small pause before she snorted unexpectedly. Taken aback, Smith gave her a puzzled look. Noticing his surprise, Mackenzie decided to explain herself. "Have you ever read the Urban dictionary, hun?" She questioned him.

Smith stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head. "Um, no m'am. I have not. Why?"

"Well, in it… Palomo means 'someone who is hopeless with woman'" She told him.

Smith blinked at her. "Really? Well, thats quite-"

"And someone whose a bit of a scaredy cat too. Soft as a caramel egg" She continued, completely in thought. "Though, hun… i don't really think any of those are bad traits. The description treats them as such but i think Palomo is a real stand-out fella" She said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, uh…" Smith gave an awkward laugh. "Well, that's good. T-that you think that. He's a really nice guy"

"Yeah" Mackenzie agreed. "He reminds me of Greens in that sense"

"Hmm..?" Smith tilted his head to the side. "Whose Greens?"

Mackenzie eyed him for a short while before answering. "An old friend"

"I see, m'am" Smith grinned at her. "Was he nice?"

"Yes. Very childish, though" She commented. "He was like a little brother to me" She revealed, smiling at the memory. However, she soon frowned. Her fists became clenched and she felt her body tense. "Those fucking aliens. I don't believe we should ever signed that peace treaty. Ah' reckon we should have just killed 'em. Every last one" She said harshly.

Smith was shocked by the sudden statement. For the short time he had known Mackenzie, she had never shown such true passion as she did then. That scared him slightly. Judging by her facial expression, she meant every word of what she had just said.

"W-why… why do you hate them so much Mac- M'am..?" He asked her, trying to conceal his stutter. He was usually the most calm of the lietunents, but under a heavy announcement like that he just couldn't hold in the few hints of panic he really felt. The same panic that was increasing when Mackenzie chose not to answer him. "M'am?" He weakly spoke up again.

With a heavy sigh, Mackenzie turned towards him. "Hun, i have lost many to the alien war. So many that i do not think i could ever comprehend… 'forgiving' them" She scoffed at her words. "Silly, i know" She then raised her hands to her helmet, pulling it off with one quick movement. Her eyes were an ocean blue. A color Smith couldn't help but admire. "Smith, i lost almost everyone to this war. Why do you think i am so protective over Michael..?" She asked him.

It took a couple seconds for Smith to register that Michael was Caboose, and when he did he was overcome with pain at his realisation. "M'am... i'm sorry…"

"You have no reason to apologise, hun" She replied firmly. "Disrespecting aliens is basically a racist act. I can understand your hesitation to my opinion on the subject" She sympathised.

"R-right" Smith took a deep breath.

They didn't dare move after that. After all, they both felt like enough had been said. Then, without warning, they heard the heavy machinery of a helicarrior. Smith gazed at it with wonderment. Before them, the ship landed and it opened to reveal soldiers in armor. Without any words, Mackenzie walked up the steps and entered. She gave a quick wave to Smith before she completely disapeared.

Smith sighed as the ship got up and left. At that point, he turned around and began heading back.

 

 


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two; Marathoning Dramas

Zachary groaned as Chaos and Zero put on another Disney movie, much to her annoyance. She knew she shouldn’t care so much (it was her idea, after all) but she couldn’t help it. Whenever the reds and blues had a terrible fight they would always settle the dispute with a marathon of Disney movies, mainly because in their minds it was a way to distract themselves from the blood shed. Zachary thought this time would be no different.

However, with almost all of the blues and reds gone to Chorus or whatever to help with a war or some shit Zachary had hardly anyone to talk to. Or at least, anyone she knew particularly well. There was Chaos and Zero, but they were too busy cuddling with each other right next to her. Yep, right next to her. Honestly! If she wasn’t there there would be no difference whatsoever and that was frustrating.

The only other person around from Blood Valley was Daniel and well... Zachary had the worst memories of him out of all the blues. He was the idiot that knocked off Leo’s leg with a grenade after all. Cross was so hard to deal with during that time too. It wasn’t even him that apologised. It was Honey-Lemon! Now, wasn’t that sick.

As Zachary’s thoughts escaped her, something else was brought to her attention. She was hungry. Very hungry. With a heavy sigh, she got up off the couch and turned to face Chaos and Zero. “I’m going to raid these guys kitchen. Do you want anything?”

“No thank you” Zero replied, cuddling further into Chaos. Chaos merely replied with a disgruntled hum before turning to Zero again with a fond smile. Zachary watched on with a level of disgust she felt like only she experienced. She wasn’t the nicest person, she would admit. Still, they were too lovey-dovey for her taste.

With not another second wasted, she left the room speedily and entered the kitchen. She was sure the two would be confused by her rushed departure, but they didn’t care. A part of her appreciated that. She wanted to be left alone. The recent events had left her... troubled, to say the least.

She scavenged the kitchen cupboards for anything remotely delicious. The least she could find was a bag of potato chips and a carton of milk. Hardly anything, really. She frowned. According to something Grif had let slip to her, every once in a while Project Freelancer would drop off more food for them so they wouldn’t starve. Yet, Zachary had never witnessed it herself, which was weird. She had been here for about half a year after all.

Her thoughts suddenly halted to a stop as she heard something... strange.

A beeping was coming from the left side of the kitchen. She chose to ignore it at first; setting down a cup and filling it with the milk found earlier. She picked it up and took a sip and immediately cringed. Putting the cup back down she checked the due date on the carton. Aw man, it was definitely off. She scowled. That Project Freelancer food better get here fast. There was no way they were going to survive out here with only a packet of chips and off milk.

As she wiped remnants of the disgusting milk off of her mouth, she heard the beeping still going on. With a deep breath, she realised it might be the fire alarm or something. She might as well check it to make sure everything’s safe...

She wandered to the left side of the kitchen and instantly knew what it was. Her helmet. Whenever the person wearing it or a teammate was injured it would make that stupid noise. At first, she thought it was because there was nothing in it so the helmet stupidly figured that the person wasn’t breathing, but then her mind remembered where her friends were. In space, in a war and in possible danger. This could be caused by them.

Fearfully, she put on the helmet and hoped it would alert her of the former. However it did not. Instead, she was greeted with the words ‘Alias; Mike, Poisoned/Chemicals, NOT FATAL. Unconscious (status)’. It took her a while to process the words, but when she did she froze.

“What the fuck?” Her voice was quiet and raspy.

“Hey” Zachary jumped, surprised. She turned to face her side. She noted Daniel staring at her, head hanging low. “Um, did you find anything in the kitchen?”

“I-Uh...” Zachary raised an eyebrow at him. What was he doing here? And as much as she wanted to ask him how he knew she was looking for food, she couldn’t bother. There was no way she was going to withstand a conversation with this dodo. Still, throughout her time here Daniel had always been confined to his tent. It was suspicious, to say the least. “Never mind that. What do you want?” She snarled.

Daniel looked visibly hurt by her hostility. Surprising, really. You think out of everything he’d expect it the most. Yet, he didn’t. He just took a deep breath and continued; “I heard the helmet. I know what that means, so...” He paused. “I just came to see”

“Ah. Okay then” Zachary gave a fake smile. “Then why didn’t you check your own helmet? It would’ve been doing the same thing” She reminded confidentially, feeling as though she had caught him doing something underhanded. “Hell, you’ve been cooped up in your tent... room... whatever-and you probably had it there. Why not-“

“I destroyed my helmet, okay!? Stop interrogating me!” Daniel suddenly snapped, eyes glowing strange colours before dying down. There was a silence as Zachary gathered her words. Did he seriously just say that? He looked like he was telling the truth too...

“I-Uh, what? Why?” Zachary stumbled for a comment. “W-why would you do that?” Her mind was already jumping to a bunch of diabolical conclusions before he finally answered her.

“Because... um...” He took a deep breath. “Because it was... projecting him..?” He looked down at the ground. He noted Zachary’s confusion and sighed. “Let’s just say it scared me, alright?”

“Your helmet scared you?” Zachary stared at him in disbelief. “Really?” She chuckled.

“It’s not funny!” Daniel retorted. He sounded irritated. “You would’ve done the same thing! The buzzing, it was-the words? They don’t shut up!” Zachary blinked at him. Okay, this man had definitely lost his marbles. With a nod in his direction, she turned back to her helmet and put it back down. “Huh? Wait, aren’t you going to track it?”

“Hmm” She hummed. “Why?”

“Cause we need to go find whoever’s in trouble... that’s the rules-“

“Blue team rules”

“-and we need to follow them. Now, can you say whose hurt?” It was more like a plea than a demand. Zachary had never gotten to know Daniel well, so she didn’t expect him to be like this. She thought he was a... maniac? Well, when you blow off someone’s leg in an explosion (on purpose) people tend to suspect that so it wasn’t a stupid misconception, just... this was weird. He couldn’t be like this, could he?

She thought for a moment. Should she tell him about Mike? He looked like he was waiting. Might as well, right? Either get killed now or later. Mike was a friend of his, right? Or did he just not care about friendship, like with Cross and Leo... she supposed that was in the past, but... oh what the hell!

“Mike” She answered bluntly. “French guy”

“Mike..?” Daniels eyes widened. “No, no, no... that’s not right-“

“I’m telling you it is” Zachary stopped him before he evolved into nothing but rambles. “Just deal with it. Remember, that ship landed with those guys not too long ago. We could always steal their ship and save him. Don’t get carried away” She rolled her eyes.

Daniel merely stared at her. “What new ship?”

“Oh, right” Zachary bit her lip. “You were hiding away or some shit. A new ship came with these two people. One of them watched Disney movies with us too, but he wouldn’t shut up so we kicked him out”

“You had a marathon? Of Disney?” He repeated. Zachary nodded. “And You didn’t invite me?”

“You didn’t seem like the kind of ass-hole who’d be interested. We can’t read minds, dude” She snorted half heartedly.

He frowned at her words but strangely agreed. “Yeah. I... wouldn’t have liked it. You guys are-you’re right! I’m being... weird” He shrugged forcefully. “So, um, this new ship? Are we packed?”

Zachary flinched. “Huh? Wait-you’re not implying we go now. That’s fucking stupid. I don’t even like Mike” She laughed nervously. “I’m not killing myself for that guy. Heck, any of them. I’m sure they’re fine. They’ve got Mackenzie and Nebraska. Those guys are kick-ass” She said proudly.

There was a pause as Daniel kicked at the ground. “Well, technically... they’ve just got Mackenzie now” He said weakly.

“Oh” Zachary froze. “Right.”

There was a chilling silence.

“Why’d he... leave us?” Daniel asked, his voice low. “He’s never acted like that before. He’s always been... Nebraska! Or, um... Jay. He’s never been a killer. Maybe a killer at conversation, really. Always socially awkward and stuff. Why’d he go crazy?”

There was a slight irony in the mans words that Zachary chose not to mention. Instead, she decided to humour him. Well, comfort him. She’d never admit it though.

“I don’t know. People can be stupid sometimes. He’ll come around, he always does” She said reassuringly. “Just wait and see. Mike will be on a ship over here in no time; completely fine, and with Nebraska back in action” She told matter-of-factly.

“Are you sure though?” Daniel questioned. “Nebraska hasn’t tried to kill someone before-“

“I’ve taken nurses training, alright. He missed the important parts flawlessly. He wasn’t aiming to kill. That’s never been his way” She brushed off determinedly.

“Alaska” He responded dryly, making Zachary tense up. “God damn Alaska. He killed her”

“Well-Uh, the... who cares!?” Zachary put her hands in the air with frustration. “We never knew her!”

“But he was friends with her, right? What happened!?” He seemed intent on finding the answer, even though Zachary probably wasn’t his best bet. “They were close. What if that’s what happens to us...”

“Oh my god, what the fuck dude?” Zachary glared at him, stomping forward. “Why the fuck am I defending your friend? Not mine, yours. He is one hundred blue team after all. You’d think you’d have a little faith in him. He only did that for Neon, Remember. Oh! Or did you forget that little fact about your friend, also?” She was getting frustrated, she knew. Yet, she couldn’t contain herself. This whole situation was pointless and disgusting. How could he not believe in his own friend? It takes Mike forever to distrust someone he knows... for better or worse.

“Neon. She’s... still with him, right?” Daniel said, thinking for a moment. “She was an A.I.”

“Um, yeah? Don’t be so surprised. We knew that ages ago” Zachary shrugged, face blank. “Jeez, did your mind get completely erased when you came here because you seem to be discovering things just as fast as these red and blue bozos” She smirked smugly.

“Um...” He became quiet at that. “No...”

“God, why does it sound like you’re lying?” Zachary laughed weakly before grabbing the previously attained potato chips and opening them. “I’m going to go back to the Disney marathon. Chaos and Zero should be asleep now so they’re cuddling shouldn’t irritate me. If it makes you feel better or whatever, we’ll go steal those reporters ship in the morning. We gotta deal?”

Daniel stared for a moment. “S-sure” He smiled. “It’s a deal...”

“Good” Zachary took a breath of relief. “I was starting to get sick of your whining” She admitted, eating a potato chip.

“Heh” Daniel seemed genuinely happy for a moment before his eyes lost their light as did his face. He stared down at the ground and sighed. “I do tend to whine a lot. They say that a lot” He muttered, far too quiet for Zachary to hear.

Still, Zachary caught on to him being sad and decided that if she was going to be miserable; not everyone had to be. “Hey” Daniel looked at up at her unexpected words. “Wanna join me for the Disney marathon. I know you said you weren’t interested but if it helps our roundups also include Marvel” She said, hopeful. “I think Spider-Man: Homecoming is on so that’s good. We also got the original Deadpool movie, even though that’s not in the MCU or whatever, but it’s there-“

“I’ll join you” Daniel relented, grinning childishly. “It’s the least I could do” 

**Author's Note:**

> And thus, the main story continues! :D
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this. Fun fact; originally i put Honey-Lemon in this as a mistake. But reading it through i had the attitude of 'huh, lets roll with this' and thus she is here. Hope she isn't an annoying character... and yes, moon people are sort of immortal. I just can't imagine Caboose getting older and then i was like he grew up on the moon so... yeah. I really hope you like this and what i have planned. ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment!
> 
> -FanficNinja


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